The Crosses We Bear
by ginoeh
Summary: AU. What if things had gone slightly different that fateful night the Kyuubi was sealed? Now Konoha has to deal with a different Jinchuuriki and a prodigious Naruto... rated M for future violence and lemon-y scenes
1. Prologue

_Disclaimer:_ I don't own _Naruto_ or any related merchandise nor am I trying to make any money with it. All recognizable characters and ideas belong to Masashi Kishimoto.

_Prologue_

‚Knock, knock, knock'

The noise was drilling itself into his head.

'Knock, knock, knock'

Why couldn't it just stay silent? Silent like the house. Silent like the clock he had accidentially smashed when he had mindlessly stumbled against the sideboard. Silent like his mother. Silent like dea-

'KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK'

"Ey, I know you're in there! Open up!", a boyish voice yelled angrily.

"Oh, come on Itsuma, let's just go", another boy moaned, " if that stuck up idiot doesn't care about being too late to the graduation ceremony then why should we!"

Some muffled grumbling followed until a feminine voice spoke up hesitantly. "Actually, Daisuke, I think Itsu is right… I saw him entering the house earlier. And it's not like Naruto to be late. Ever."

"Don't know, don't care but if we're not going _right now_ then it's us that's going to be late. Just get one of your mutts to take a message to someone who actually cares", the boy said dismissively.

Fading footsteps told Naruto that at least one person was leaving.

"Come on Hana", the other's, Itsumo's, voice sighed, "let's get going. And don't listen to Daisuke. You know he could never stand Naruto."

The voices flowed away, the sound of the front porch falling close assuring Naruto that he was alone again.

Alone.

A strangled gasp escaped him. Not quite a sob. His body jerked forward slightly as if to hold in any other emotions that threatened to spill out. The unwilling movement caused a tightly rolled up scroll to rustle against his black, soaked shinobi pants. He looked down at the piece of parchment that was lying in front of him.

Red liquid was staining the left side of it, the same liquid that had drenched his pants, clung to his hands and was pooling on the living room floor.

Blood. His numb mind helpfully supplied. Lots and lots of blood. A person that had lost that much blood couldn't possibly be still alive, it continued to lecture in a textbook voice.

His eyes followed the puddles of liquid life to its origin. And backtracked immediately as if scorched by a white hot flame.

Naruto looked back down at the scroll and began to unroll it, slowly, automatically.

He didn't want to read what _she_ had written but neither could he look at _her_ flaming red hair fanning out behind her and getting dark with blood; at _her_ porcelain white skin that could do nothing to hide the dark rings under _her_ eyes or_ her_ withdrawn face; at _her_ slender hands with the fingers curled securely, unmovingly around the handle of the tanto that _she_ had plunged into her own gut.

Keeping his eyes firmly on the scroll, Naruto did his best to block out his dark surroundings, the heavy, metallic smell of blood and began to read.

_To my dear son, _

_Do you remember what I told you about being a Shinobi? Ah, of course you do. There is nothing quite like the mind of those they call a genius._

'_The village always comes first' was the first lesson that I drilled into you when you expressed the wish to become a ninja and I am sure that you haven't forgotten it._

_But, this letter and what I am going to do, are not about you and your accomplishments or anything present. It is about your Tou-san and me and about the lives we threw away._

_You already know that your father was Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Yondaime, and also one of the reasons why your heritage should be kept secret for the time being. _

_Today in the Academy they teach that the Yondaime was the hero that killed the Kyuubi no Youko and saved the village at the cost of his life. I don't know if they have simply repressed the truth or if they have really come to see him that way. Let me tell you the real story._

_The nine tailed kitsune demon is, like all others of his kind, a being made of pure elemental chakra. It has no definite form or body, only a sentient spirit to preside over and use the chakra. Therefore, it cannot be killed by any normal means. Your Tou-san knew that and worked a way around it._

_I am no Master of Seals so I can't tell you the specifics but Minato created a Sealing Technique that could seal away the spirit and the Yang chakra of the demon fox into a newborn child with not yet developed chakra coils. The Yin chakra would then be stored in a special sealing scroll._

_You were born on the 10__th__ of October seven years ago, only two days and a half after Kyuubi's initial attack. The Sealing Technique was ready to be used and yet I can assure you, that you have no demon jailed in you. _

_Can you already see where this is going? _

_They don't call you a genius for nothing, my little darling. _

_It was supposed to be you. _

_When Jiraiya came to the hospital to take you, the medics had already given up hope for my life and declared me dead. Hokage's wife or not, in all the chaos and death nobody had any more time to devote to me than absolutely necessary. But when Jiraiya took you out of the crib I found some last strength and pleaded with him to get Minato to me one last time. _

_He did so and when your Tou-san came I begged him to spare you, to spare our child. I made him promise to go and think about it one last time. When he came back a few hours later he examined you and declared that your chakra coils were now already too developed. You were unfit for the ritual._

_I found my will to live in this and was eccstatic, he defeated._

_It took another day until the next child was born. Her father was already dead, her mother died minutes after the birth. Minato elected her to be the Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi. _

_When I left the hospital with you I realized what devastation that one day delay had wrought: 167 civilian deaths, 214 dead Shinobi and the outer part of Konoha was destroyed._

_And somehow, word had gotten out that I had held up Minato, that he didn't want to use his own son, that my selfishness and his hesitation had cost the life of hundreds._

_Had I not had you to look after, I would have committed seppuku on that very first day. But I bore the stares and the whispers for nearly a year until they started to malign you too. That was when I decided to leave for the outer areas of Hi no Kuni._

_The rest you know. I trained you when you first asked to become a ninja at the age of four, I came back to Konoha for your Academy classes – even if under a false name -, I loved you and watched over you._

_But even if they don't recognize me anymore and have elevated Minato as hero, I know the truth about the lives we sacrificed. Had I died that day, so many people would have been spared. I am sure that I was meant to die. This knowledge is destroying me, Naruto._

_Now that you are a ninja, an adult in our world, I am being selfish once again. I cannot live with so much blood on my hands any longer, with so much shame and dishonor. I have escaped death for too long but now I am going willingly._

_Remember, the village always comes first._

_Live well and don't forgive me._

_Your mother _

Naruto didn't know how long he had been sitting alone, the words of his mother playing over and over in his mind. He never heard the voices outside the house or the sound of the front door being forced open . He only looked up when a person squatted down next to him and the lingering smell of death was overpowered by pipe incense, crisp clothes and _warmth_.

"Come with me, Naruto", the Sandaime said caringly and Naruto felt a wrinkled hand falling on his shoulder, "let's get you to the hospital first."

Naruto stood with the Hokage and noted distantly how the drying blood flaked off his pants and made them stiff and uncomfortable.

His hands were steady as he rolled up the scroll again and followed the Sandaime out without question and without looking back even once.

* * *

tbc

Well? How did that sound like so far? Was it good? Bad? Any comments or critiques?

Please review and tell me, constructive criticism is always welcome!

ginoeh


	2. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** ... Go see Prologue... honestly...

**A/N:** Thanks so much for the reviews I recieved for my opening chapter! This chapter starts off three years after Kushina's suicide because, really, I just couldn't be bothered with writing about lame D-rank missions and inventing something for the Chunnin exams. There won't actually be happening much yet, I'll just introduce some characters, give you a glimps of Konoha's political situation and let Naruto show off his skills a little. BTW, before anyone asks, the Uchiha Massacre still happened. I see no reason as to how little Naruto could have changed that, so there.

On a side note, does anyone know the name of Sandaime's secretary? I just made one up, it's not that important. And just to head off some confusion, I do know that Yondaime's name was _Namikaze_ Minato. But I thought it kind of funny to have Kazama as Naruto's fake surname...

Have fun reading!

* * *

_(Three years later)  
_

_Chapter One_

"Frankly, I do not care how much you sugar coat this or how many of the civilian council you have on your side, it WILL.NOT.HAPPEN! Shinobi affairs are still mine to deal with and considering that she has been in the Academy for two years now gives me more than enough reason to consider her as one."

The Sandaime was doing his very best to not go through the roof but this was the eighth time in only two weeks that the old warmonger Danzo had brought up this topic. Not to mention the accumulated tries of the past – oh, what was it again? – 6 years!?

"Sarutobi-sama, please consider the strength our village could project if we were to teach her how to use her… tenant. Especially now when the altercations with Cloud are starting to get out of hand!"

Sarutobi suppressed a sigh. "And I suppose you would be the one to teach her? "

"Well, I certainly have the means to-"

"Do not take me for a fool, Danzo. I may have officially disbanded and forbidden your _Ne_ but I am not yet old enough to not see the truth. You know as well as I do that Konoha needs your organization as much as you need the Hokage to turn a blind eye to your doings."

"I am not sure I know what-"

"Plausible deniability, Danzo", Sandaime murmured and took out his pipe, "You know that I could crush your _Ne_ if I only set my mind to it but at this moment in time I still like having the options available your men give me. Just make sure you do not overstep your boundaries. "

He paused for a moment to light his tobacco.

"And Ami is as much out of your grasp as Naruto, especially with his history and origin."

The Hokage watched with sharp eyes and no small amount of amusement as Danzo gritted his teeth in unwilling defeat.

"The boy has told me of all your recruiting efforts and how he rebuffed them. He is loyal to Konoha and to me. Leave him alone."

A light knock on the door interrupted them.

"Kazama Naruto has arrived, Hokage-sama", his brunette secretary informed him, "Shall I tell him to wait?"

"No, no, send him in Etsuko. We were just finished here."

Danzo stood at the dismissal and bowed stiffly.

"Danzo-san", Naruto greeted him formally as they passed each other.

"Please close the door, Naruto-kun", Sarutobi said after the boy had entered his office.

Naruto complied and then stood to attention before his leader. "Hokage-sama."

"Ah, relax, Naruto-kun", Sarutobi chuckled and motioned the boy to take a seat, "I merely wanted to chat. It has been quite some time since I have seen you. How is being a Chuunin treating you? I heard that you are mostly doing solo missions now?"

Naruto let himself sink into the comfortable chair. He liked talking with the Samdaime, there was no one he felt more comfortable around than the old village leader.

"It's been good, I guess", he shrugged, "Matsuri-sensei has talked about wanting to take on a new Genin-team so I persuaded her to let me take some solo missions to get used to it. Besides, I _have_ been doing missions with other squads…" He trailed off.

"But it's hard for them to accept that a ten year old is at least as skilled as them?", Sarutobi ventured a guess and frowned.

"Well… yes", Naruto averted his eyes uncomfortably.

Not that he was ashamed of his accomplishements, far from it, but he knew that many others resented him for it. Though, he thought, that had always been the case, starting from the first day at the Academy when he was asked to demonstrate his skills. He had tried to make friends that year, sure. He was not antisocial back then. But he stopped all his efforts on that fateful graduation day. When he had come home, proudly wearing his Konoha hitai-ate, he had found his mother. Dead. By suicide. Oh, how he resented her for it. For leaving him alone, for _giving up_, for carelessly throwing that burden upon _him_. The scroll with her last words was still hidden away in the apartment he had moved into afterwards, and sometimes when he took it out and ran his fingers across the stained parchment he could feel the crushing weight of the dead bearing down on him. Suffocating him, singling him out in a village full of outstanding individuals and assuring his loneliness.

_The village always comes first._

That had become his mantra, his safeguard against failing so many people as his parents had. Konoha was more important than having friends, even more important than his life. If one life lost could serve the village than it had to be lost.

His fast ascension in the shinobi ranks assured that he could give the village his all. And maybe, just maybe, in time he could make up for his parents' mistake.

"Don't do that", Sarutobi's sharp voice shattered his wandering thoughts, "Haven't I told you time and again to leave the past where it belongs?!" His voice softened, "No one blames you, Naruto and it has been a long time since anyone has had the gall to blame Minato and Kushina."

"Ma, you always know what I think, ojiji", Naruto responded lightly, "does that come with the job or is it a special jutsu? Or maybe a kekkei genkai that nobody knows about?"

Naruto was glad that the Hokage smiled a little at his, truthfully pitiful, attempt at levity.

He really didn't fancy another talk about that subject. He had lost count of how many times over the last three years he had been forced to 'talk about it' just because his initial mental checkup had diagnosed him with PTSD. He had gone to the psychatrist the first time but after she had tried to get him to play with toy soldiers and given him wax crayons and sweets he had violently refused any further visits. That had bought him many raised eyebrows but, hey, as a Shinobi he was entitled to refuse treatment as long as it didn't impact his job.

"Well then", Sarutobi changed the subject, "concerning your…ah… unpopularity with those of your rank and Matsuri's request for a Genin team I have worked out a passable solution to the problem."

Naruto tensed in his seat. He suddenly had a horrible feeling about where this was going. "You can't…", he attempted feebly but was totally ignored by his leader who went on cheerfully and with a wicked glint in his eyes.

"Matsuri has grown quite fond of you, Naruto-kun, and would be loath to lose you. Considering that the number of this year's graduating Genin is uneven, Matsuri will get the two left over students with you to fill in the vacant slot."

Naruto looked at the Hokage unbelievingly.

"Erm…well, it nice and all that you're thinking about me", Naruto said scratching the back of his head sheepishly while trying to edge away to the office door, "but…erm…I kind of like my solo missions. So, ah, if you don't mind I'll just be goi-"

"Naruto", the Hokage rolled his eyes.

Naruto slumped slightly and trudged back to his seat.

"There's no way I can change your mind?", he asked hopefully, "you know I'm not good with teams."

"It's already decided. Other villages may cultivate this self dependence but here in Konohagakure we make an effort for teamwork, as you well know. And this system has given us good results so far. So, do I have to make it an order to you?"

"No, Hokage-sama", Naruto replied somewhat stiffly.

Sarutobi raised his eyebrows.

"Now, don't be like that, Naruto-kun. Try to get along with them. It won't be _that_ bad. Besides you will only join them when they have already done most of their required D-rank missions. I may be a stickler for teamwork but even I don't like to squander talent like yours unnecessarily. Especially in tense times like these. Tell me, what do you know about the start of these problems we have with Cloud right now."

Naruto paused to think a moment.

"What I gathered from the history and politics books is that it started about six years ago. A ninja from Kumogakure tried to kidnap Hyuuga Hinata in order to get the Byakuugan. He was unsuccessful and died in the attempt which threatened the peace treaty which had just been signed between our villages. And then things get a bit unclear", Naruto furrowed his brows, "The Raikage wanted retribution for his killed Shinobi in form of the life of Hyuuga Hiashi, the clan head. He obviously wanted to make it look like his Shinobi had been killed unprovoked. But you denied his demand on the grounds that you had an eyewitness whom you were unwilling to name out of fear for their life. And from there on things declined till we got to this not-quite-all-out war we have now. Do you want me to go into the details about the skirmishes and political maneuvers that happened in the following years?"

"No, that won't be necessary, Naruto-kun. I simply wanted to see wether you were aware of the delicacy of the situation", the Hokage said and then added, "It was Ami."

Naruto blinked at the seeming non-sequitur.

"I don't…"

"The eyewitness", Sarutobi clarified," it was Ami."

Naruto looked up sharply.

"No wonder you kept her name quiet", he observed," the villagers would rip her apart if they knew she was indirectly involved in creating this warlike state we have now. They don't exactly like the Jinchuuriki."

"Do not call her that", Sarutobi reprimanded sharply, "I know you keep your distance to her but there is no need to insult her."

"I'm simply telling the truth", Naruto replied evenly, "She is a human sacrifice. The villagers may see her as the demon reborn and had rather she died yesterday than tomorrow but I don't. She is a jailor. And human. Nothing more, nothing less. The situation would be the same if things had gone as planned."

It was silent for a minute.

"Besides", Naruto went on quietly, "you should be glad I'm staying away from her. There's no telling how she would react should she ever find out the truth. The villagers and most shinobi may have forgiven my parents or even forgotten about it but somehow I doubt that she would take it well."

Sarutobi sighed quietly.

"I suppose this is a subject we'll have to agree to disagree on. But back to the topic. I'm giving you a last solo mission. It is long term, most likely a month or more so you'll get back in time to join your new team. The class is low to middle B-rank and normally I would have liked to have you accompanied by at least two more Chuunin or one Jonin, but we are simply lacking the manpower right now. It is primarily a reconnaissance mission but depending on the situation it might come to direct enemy engagement."

The Hokage paused slightly.

"You're being awfully vague today", Naruto commented lightly, although his eyes were serious.

"Are you going to take it? It pertains to sensitive information and I cannot reveal more unless you accept."

"Of course I accept."

"Very well…"

* * *

_(6 weeks later)_

The dark clad figure made his way swiftly though the woods, the white unadorned mask an undistinguishable bright spot in the trees. The movements weren't as graceful as one would expect from a Shinobi but then again, even Shinobi seldom had to travel eight days with only few stops and even less sleep through nearly unknown territory.

_Only a few more miles_, he thought to himself and again pushed himself to his limits. He was glad he had lost his pursuers three days ago in Waterfall country as he knew he couldn't have kept escaping them for much longer.

_Besides, I'm on a time limit_, he reminded himself exasperatedly. This mission had already taken longer than anticipated and in only a few hours he was to meet with his new team. Not that he was looking forward to that. It would have been bad enough just having to meet them but as exhausted and probably still sleepless as he would be by then it just spelled disaster.

As the dark shape of the walls and therefore of a side entrance to Konohagakure no Sato loomed before him he released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

The two guards at the unobstrusive metal door stood straighter when they saw him approaching. Naruto chuckled quietly. With his clothes and the mask he had been given specifically for this mission he look eerily like a member of ANBU or Ne. He doubted the guards would give him the same respectful attention if they knew he was only a Chuunin like themselves.

"ANBU-san", the left one said with a short bow, "your identification number, please."

"37-AC-5726 reporting back", Naruto replied, his voice slightly muffled by his mask.

The head of the other guard shot up from the scroll he had been verifying his ID with.

"Ah, the Hokage has informed the guards to look out for you. You are nearly a week late, ANBU-san. He has asked that you be sent to him immediately upon your return."

"Thanks, I will do that", Naruto replied. _There goes my much needed sleep_, he thought somewhat grumpily.

"Besides, I'm not an ANBU", he added stoically as he entered through the small door, "Have a nice shift, Itsumo. Daisuke."

He left the two trying to figure out who he was (not that they had any chance of succeeding, those bakas, he snickered to himself) and made his way to the Hokage Tower. He rather pitied the Old Man for having to work such ungodly hours.

The secretary winked him through to Sandaime's office as soon as he stated his mission-ID.

"…nothing suspicious to be reported, Hokage-sama. Of course, our notorious lack of concrete information-", the tall, silver haired man broke off abruptly as Naruto opened the door.

"I apologize, Hokage-sama", Naruto said, the annoyed twitch of his left eye well concealed behind his mask, "apparently your secretary isn't quite up-to-date with your appointments."

He moved to step outside again when Sarutobi motioned for him to stay. "That is quite alright, Kakashi-kun spontaneously… dropped by… a few minutes earlier."

Narutos eyes involuntarily followed Sarutobi's to the open window. "Ah", he murmured, "I see."

Naruto was impressed with the Hokage's 'Mastery of Mind Reading' when the Old Man sternly said: "And I'd appreciate it if you would continue to use the door, nonetheless."

Naruto scowled slightly dismayed which again was completely lost on the Old Man.

"Now, where were we", Sarutobi sighed and the silver haired Jounin took that as his cue to continue, evidently seeing no reason to censor his information if the Hokage himself had allowed the masked Shinobi to stay.

_Hatake Kakashi_, Naruto thought, the Copy Ninja, his father's prized student and master of over a thousand jutsu if his entry in various Bingo Books could be believed. The man who had distanced himself from Kushina and Naruto after the Kyuubi attack out of grief for not only losing his last teammate but also his Sensei and who, according to the Sandaime, had given up hope of finding them five years prior. Who wouldn't, Naruto reasoned, after four consecutive years of trying – and failing – to locate the last two elusive Namikaze.

Naruto felt no bonds to the man, no desire to get to know him, not even back then, when he was told of him a few months after his mother's suicide. If anything, he felt slight resentment of the Hatake for having known Minato when Naruto himself had never had the chance.

"… but just a few hours ago we received confirmation, that there was a short altercation between some Cloud nins and an Iwa border control three days ago. We have no idea what Kumo nins were doing in Taki no Kuni and even less why they were engaging ninja from Iwa. I thought Kumo and Iwa were neutral? Them being on hostile terms could mean that Kumo's attention towards us will decrease for a while."

The Hokage obviously noticed Naruto's slight shift in stance at that and motioned for him to speak.

"I suppose this ties in with me being so late, Hokage-sama", Naruto began, "On my way out of Kaminari no Kuni I was detected by a Chuunin border patrol. As my mission stated not to engage if not unavoidable I tried to lose them but they were replaced by four Jonin soon after. Obviously the theft of the items I targeted did not go unnoticed and they rightly suspected me. I led them on a chase through Rice country and into Taki no Kuni. I thought it best not to compromise Konoha in any way. I managed to get three of them temporarily held up by Taki nins and confronted the other a few miles from the Iwa border", Naruto took a silent breath.

Even now it seemed like a dream that he had managed to overpower a Jounin. Admittedly, he was probably a new Jounin and not very skilled but a Jounin nonetheless.

"I used the area to my advantage, took him down and took him over the border into Iwa. Then I destroyed all traces of the battle. That was three days ago. After that, I backtracked through Rice towards Hi no Kuni. "

Silence descended upon the three and Naruto felt Hatake giving him an appraising look.

"I am impressed", Sarutobi said after a while, "you reached all other mission targets?"

"Of course", Naruto replied evenly.

"Well", the Hokage mused, "you are certainly not called a prodigy for nothing. If you were a Jounin already, I would consider letting you keep the mask."

Naruto vaguely noticed Hatake's one visible brow nearly vanishing into his hairline at that but he was too busy suppressing his blush beneath his mask to comment on it.

" If I may ask", the Hatake began and looked at Sarutobi who nodded in consent, "What is your name? To which team do you belong?"

Naruto stiffened imperceptibly. Well, that was that about keeping under the Copy Nin's radar, no thanks to the Old Man.

"Kazama", he replied somewhat tersely, trying to keep his displeasure from being noticed, "My name is Kazama Naruto. I am a Chuunin under Tanaka Matsuri but I have not yet had a team. Not many are professional enough to work with or under a Chuunin who is younger than your average Academy graduate."

Kakashi nodded and eyesmiled at him. "Yes, I got that a lot, too", he replied lightly, "I might have heard about you before but I usually don't pay attention to such things. "

"Maa, don't start on my account", Naruto said dryly, "Too many people are considered prodigies today, in my opinion."

The Jounin chuckled. "Well, that's true. Now, if you allow, Hokage-sama, my squad is waiting to move out again and you still have to debrief our overly intelligent squirt here."

The Hokage motioned his hands to dismiss him and the wiry man disappeared.

Through the window.

Sarutobi simply put his head into his hands. His office had a door, for Kami's sake!

The unmuffled and put out voice of Naruto roused him again. The boy had finally taken off his mask.

"I'm not that short, am I?"

"…"

"…"

"…"

"I don't like that Hatake", Naruto mumbled sullenly.

Then he sighed exasperatedly.

Kami, he needed sleep! He was acting like a … well …ten-year-old…

"Can we just get this done?", he asked – NOT whined .

He tried to keep his temper in check when he saw the Hokage not even bothering to suppress his smile.

Well, after this night someone was going to suffer, Naruto thought viciously. Kami help those new teammates of his…

* * *

_(TBC)_

Sooooo, that was the first chapter. Did you like it? Did you hate it? I would love to know!

I'd like to know where you guys want this to go. I'm not promising anything but if you've got some ideas about who you want Naruto and his team fighting against or maybe something like that, I'll see if I can work it in.

Next chapter: Naruto meets his new team and we get to know a bit more about Naruto's privat life. Stay tuned!

cheers ginoeh


	3. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** ...I'm skipping that one... I don't think anyone seriously believes I changed my identity during the last week and became Kishimoto...

**A/N: **Sooooo, here we are again. As I already indicated we are about to meet Naruto's new teammates (beware the OCs...evil laugh...) and, well, I really have nothing to say except thanks for the reviews and have fun!

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_Chapter Two_

"Ano… Matsuri-sensei, he's pretty late, isn't he?", a girl with straight brown hair and chocolate coloured eyes said hesitantly.

"You're right, Mai, he is", the woman called Matsuri sighed. She looked rather nondescript except for her dark blue hair. It was a family thing, not quite a bloodline which made her uncommonly aligned to anything to do with water. "And that's not like him at all."

"There you see how much he actually cares about his new team", a slightly stocky boy with gray hair and mercury eyes toned loudly while doing completely exaggerated acrobatics on some training posts.

"Don't say that, Kenji", the girl, Mai, admonished her teammate, "maybe something important came up and-"

"Actually", a voice drawled from above them, "I simply felt like sleeping in, for once."

A slender boy dropped out of the tree next to them. He was a bit on the short side and his blond, longish hair flopped tiredly around his head.

Matsuri looked exasperatedly at her errant student and then drew her brows together in concern when she noticed the uncommonly pronounced dark rings around his shadowed blue eyes.

"Well", she said cheerily trying to disperse the tense mood, "now that we're all here we can introduce ourselves, how about it?"

Three pair of eyes shot her a deadpan look and she sweatdropped slightly.

"Ah, heh, good to see you're already acting as a team." _Kami, that's scary…_

"Sensei…", Naruto began and the slightly pissed off undertone in his normally even voice told her instantly that, for whatever reason, his patience was only seconds away from snapping.

Matsuri reluctantly got serious. It was no fun fooling around when her favorite student was only a finger twitch away from skewering his future teammates.

"Ok, guys your new teammate here is named Kazama Naruto, as you already know. He made Genin three years ago when he was seven and has been a Chunnin now for a little over a year. As far as I know his only likes are relaxing at the onsen, training and Ramen. Not necessarily in that order. He'll take part in the team building aspect of our training but will mostly train on his own apart from that. Speaking of teams; he's never really been part of one, mostly due to his age. Or lack thereof.Nonetheless, in my absence he will take over your training and head your missions." She paused a moment at the scowls the two boys directed her way. "He maybe younger than you both and for the most time an equal member of the team", Matsuri addressed her two Genin students, "but don't forget that in ninja terms he is your superior and, should I be unavailable for whatever reason, your taichou."

The silence that followed her, admittedly, lengthy monologue was getting oppressive until Naruto sighed and looked at the girl.

"Well…?", he prompted.

She instantly flushed.

"Oh, of course. I'm sorry Naruto-senpai", her even and melodic voice stood at odds with her bright red cheeks and embarrassed smile, "My name is Itou Mai. I like training my taijutsu, learning about medicinal herbs and calligraphy. I've already trained my chakra control and some medic jutsus so I can one day be the medic nin in this team."

Even though he was unwilling to admit it, Naruto was slightly impressed. There weren't many Genin kunoichi that were already serious about their training.

"How old are you?", he asked slightly softer.

"I'll be twelve next month", she answered, "I first thought I'd be the youngest on the team, considering that Kenji is already thirteen."

"Thirteen? Isn't the normal graduating age twelve?", Naruto asked the wild haired boy. He had a suspicion that made his already bad mood reach even greater depths.

"Hey!", Kenji exclaimed indignantly, "It's not my fault that stupid teacher last year didn't like my face or whatever."

"Well, you didn't really try all that hard this year either", Mai cut in reproachfully, "Your taijutsu was truly awful and everyone saw your clone collapse the moment Iruka-sensei looked down on his papers."

Naruto resisted the urge to palm his face.

"So he's this year's Dead Last?", he asked Mai.

"Don't call me that!", Kanji growled, "That's a stupid system anyway! I can do three Raiton jutsu but no one cares about that. Bet that's even more offensive jutsu than _you've_ got, Teme."

Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"Hardly, Dobe", came the clipped response, followed by an angry "What did you just call me, blondie?!"

A short altercation later had Kenji angrily clawing at the earth with Naruto's left foot planted on his back, and a kunai idly hovering over his jugular.

"Ah, well, let's now come to team rules", Matsuri inserted herself loudly, "Rule Number One: No killing teammates…"

Mai sweatdropped severely.

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_(one day later)_

It was Day One and yes, it was written in capitals. It was Day One of Naruto's foray into teambuilding exercises and he was already seriously considering taking those four weeks psychological leave he still had left.

Really, it was more an exercise in patience than anything else. It certainly _wasn't_ helping the – nonexistent – team dynamics any, Naruto thought viciously.

At the moment they were standing in a triangle roughly fifty yards away from each other (though Naruto had the sneaking suspicion that Mai was continuously edging closer to him) and playing catch with a Kunai. They're aim was to make 100 save catches in a row and of course, you had to trust your teammates to not try and impale you. Naruto had thought it to be ridiculously easy – as of now, they hadn't even managed more than 70. After nearly two hours.

Mai's increasingly bad aim did nothing to endear the exercise to him but it had nothing on the nerve-fraying, _teeth- grinding _way their last member continued to –

"Hey, hey, hey! I just remembered another one!", the mercury-eyed boy yelled with a big grin. Naruto groaned and fumbled with an inordinately sloppy throw he had just received from Mai. Probably her patience was also wearing thin by now. No one could possibly throw _that_ bad!

"Awww, come on, you have to do your part. It's your turn, Naruto!"

"…"

"Knock Knock"

"…"

"Don't be such a spoilsport, Teme", Kenji groused.

Naruto's hand twitched in a motion reminiscent of throwing a shuriken at high speed. Kenji and Mai didn't seem to notice.

Just humor him, Naruto, he soothingly thought to himself, perhaps that will shut him up!

"Again… Knock Knock."

"Who's there?!"

"Maa, you could _try_ and not sound like you're about to kill someone, you know", Kenji sweatdropped.

Naruto stared.

"Ah.. hehe, well, last try, ok? Knock Knock."

"_Who's there?!_"

"Norma Lee."

"_Norma Lee who?!_"

"Normalee I don't go around knocking on doors, but do you want to buy a set of encyclopedias?"

"…"

"Hahahaha, you get it? Nor-ma-lee! That's dead funny, don't you- ahhhh, ooops, I think I missed that Kunai, guys…"

Naruto thought he had heard wrong. They had been so close! Only 15 more catches! He saw Mai palm her face in helpless exasperation and Kenji was shifting around with an embarrassed grin on his face.

Naruto took a deep breath and resisted the urge to have Kanji try and catch one of his own kunai. Preferably with some part of his body where it hurt.

He ignored the barely stifled laughter of their observing Sensei and was just about to say something scathing when Mai stepped in.

"You know what, if we manage to get this exercise done in the next twenty minutes I'm going to treat you both to Ramen."

"Hey, that's nice of you", Kenji said surprised, apparently oblivious his teammates fraying nerves, "And just for that I'll treat you to another one of my best 'Knock Knock' jokes!"

"…and IF we do it in silence", she added with a slightly sharp undertone.

"Ah, okay then…"

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It was interesting, Naruto mused over his second serving of delicious smelling Ramen, how concentrated Kenji could be when he had something to look forward to and how accurate Mai's throwing had suddenly been in a last attempt to get the exercise done. They had actually managed to finish with a bit time to spare before their self imposed limit went off. Mai and Kenji had then proceeded to pester Matsuri-sensei to join them. She had politely declined, saying something or other about having to repot her plants and getting drunk with some of her friends.

Naruto had only shaken his head at the obvious lie. Clearly, she just wanted the three of them to be alone to do some more team bonding.

Naruto wasn't all that interested but he had to admit that he was a bit intrigued by Mai's fascination with medicines. Somewhat less interesting was the way Kenji was flicking leftover noodles at passers-by, he thought wryly. But still, it was slightly funny to see them scraping off soggy noodles from their faces and trying to discern where they had come from.

"Hey, Dobe", he remembered suddenly.

"Don't call me that, bastard", the boy in question replied, put out, "I do have a name, y'know!?"

"Yes, about that", Naruto went on and completely ignored the insult, "You never told me your surname."

A shadow passed fleetingly over Kenji's face.

"Duh, that's because I don't have one", his cheery voice was offset by his darkened eyes.

"And besides", he went on quietly and looked away, "why would I need one anyway? I'll just make my own name in time, you'll see!"

Huh, Naruto thought surprised, the Dobe seemed to have some issued about that. He wondered why…

"Well", Naruto said unexpectedly and slid gracefully off his stool, "Thank you for the invitation, Mai. I'm sorry I have to cut this short but I still have a mission report to fill out."

"Your bad", Kenji shrugged, "That's what you get for doing missions on your own."

Naruto rolled his eyes as Mai scowled at her fellow Genin.

"Good luck", she said friendly, "We'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Sure", he answered carelessly, "I have to get going. Ja ne!"

Naruto lazily made his way home. The weather was nice and even though he really did have to write that report it didn't have to be completed immediately. The Hokage had debriefed him thoroughly and given him a week's worth leeway to hand in his formal report. He made a short stop at one of the higher prized tea shops to treat himself to a small bag of his favorite blend and watched with amusement as one of the more eccentric Jonin, one Maito Gai, made a spectacle out of helping an older woman carrying her shopping bags.

All in all, he felt rather relaxed upon reaching his apartment. It was the topmost of the four that his building held and offered a rather nice view of the Hokage Tower and Monument behind it. It was carefully chosen by the Sandaime when Naruto had insisted on not going back to his former house. The area was populated by a lot of Jonin and some better-off Chunin. Sure, it was pricy but it wasn't as if Naruto had to worry about that with him earning money since he was seven and having a rather large inheritance to fall back to. Besides, he mused, it was certainly worth it. The neighbours were quiet, shinobi friendly and respected privacy and his roof-deck was fantastic for watching the stars at night.

Sure, he thought as he unlocked the door, 70 square meters were a bit on the large side but it wasn't as if he couldn't use the space.

He shut the door behind him and took a moment to soak in the silence. Then he stripped off his sandals in the hallway and crossed his spacious living room into the kitchen to drop of his tea. Yawning, he backtracked and was just about to enter his study to get a head start on that damned report when he spontaneously decided differently. Despite a descent night's sleep he was still feeling tense and exhausted from his eight-day-run across what felt like the whole Shinobi Continent.

Five minutes later Naruto sighed contentedly under the hot spray of his shower. Rolling his shoulders to relax some muscles his mind wandered back to his new teammates. _Teammates_. Naruto's snort was muffled by the water running over his face. He didn't know what Matsuri-sensei, or the Hokage for that matter, were thinking. They knew that he didn't like most people his age. He considered being sulky about it for a while but then disregarded the idea. He was just feeling too damned lazy right now.

At the thought of Kenji and Mai his lips then unexpectedly lifted up into a half grin. He supposed they _had_ looked pretty funny at the kunai-exercise…

He wondered lightly if it would perhaps be worth it to make an effort for them. After all, they could possibly be stuck together for a long time. He may already be a Chuunin and could leave the team if push came to shove but he actually had no intention of making the life of the two Genin unduly difficult.

Maybe he'd give them a chance. _If_ they didn't turn out to be too useless. And, well, no one had ever accused of having low standards.

The blond turned off the water and stepped out of the shower to towel himself off.

He wasn't only exceptionally bad at _making_ friends but also at keeping in contact with them. He had a few acquaintances among the Chunnins, most notably among them a pair of female Hyuuga twins of the Branch House who unexplainably decided he was cute after he had defeated them in a training match. He still tried to make sense of that now eight months later.

He confusedly shook his head at that and ignored his wet hair that was hanging into his eyes in favour of pulling on a dark blue long sleeve and matching Shinobi pants.

Then there were Itzumo and Kotetsu whom he got along with well enough despite the glaring age difference of ten years.

But the most persistent of them all was doubtlessly Inuzuka Hana, the only person who had bothered to stay around even after the catastrophic end of his Academy days.

He didn't understand her reasoning; he had been downright nasty to her at times shortly after his mother's suicide and had never cared enough to tell her what had happened even though she had insisted pretty violently.

It probably had to do something with that much prized pack loyalty all Inuzukas displayed. Naruto didn't know exactly when or how he had gotten the questionable honour of being included in Hana's 'pack' but he had long since given up complaining. Along the way he had reluctantly grown fond of her, he supposed. He wouldn't consider her his best friend, they weren't that close but she was definitely more than a mere acquaintance.

Even though she was five years older than him and had reached her Chunnin status half a year after him she had made it her mission to get him to socialize at least once every other week. It mostly consisted of them going somewhere for lunch or dinner, joining her friends or simply sitting around and talking. She had repeatedly tried to get him into some bars for a few months now but Naruto was having nothing of it. He might be technically an adult but as a ten-year-old he was still feeling out of place in a crowded bar.

And speaking of Hana…

If he judged her correctly then she was due to come by any minute to make up for the six weeks he had dropped off her radar.

Oh joy… that was some explaining he had to do. He had missed their last 'date'.

As if on cue there were some knocks on his door.

Naruto went to open it and just as he had suspected it was Hana, for once without her intimidating doggy companions.

"Well, well, well", she chirped exaggeratedly cheery and stepped around him into his appartement, "The long lost son is finally back!"

Then she whirled around and pinned him with a furious look.

"Didn't you even think to tell me you were leaving?! I went to the Hokage when after three fucking days no one I asked had any clue where you were. I was WORRIED, damn it!"

Naruto cautiously edged back into his living room. Best not to get himself cornered by the irate female.

"It's not as if I had much time to prepare, Hana", he explained, "I left already one day after the mission was assigned so I didn't exactly have the luxury of running around Konoha and trying to find you."

"You could have left a short notice", she answered shortly but already the worst of her temper had blown over.

"Maa, I guess I could have", Naruto answered carelessly, "Didn't think of it though."

Hana just sighed theatrically and grinned wryly. "Yeah, I got that."

Naruto shrugged. "Did anything happen while I was away?", he asked, only mildly curious. It was always good to stay on top of the most important rumours and Hana provided if he asked.

"Nothing too interesting, I guess but there are a few thing to tell", she answered, " I heard Mitsuri-sensei took on two new Genins and now you have to put up with them?"

"Yes, something like that", Naruto responded dryly.

"Do you want to join me for something to eat?", Hana asked, "I'm feeling like Onigiri, so how about…"

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_(TBC)_

I know, I know... there's still no action but it's only one or two more chapters off. Promise!

So, how did you like Mai and Kenji-kun? I think I'll have lots of fun writing him. I tried to make the characters authentic though I guess in-depth characterizations will indirectly emerge in future scenes with them. BTW, I suppose you'll be glad to know that I actually have the story planned out for about 16 chapters in advance. It's not written yet, mind you, but at least I've got a concept now. Though, I'm always open to suggestions...

One other thing, this story is not being betaed. Seeing as I'm German I'm liable to make mistakes, especially where punctuation is concerned. I'd be thankful if you pointed out my more glaring mistakes...

Next chapter: Enter the Jinchuuriki! Stay tuned.

cheers ginoeh

(urgh, WTF is wrong with those line breaks!!)


	4. Chapter Three

No, there's no **Disclaimer** this time 'cause I really am Kishimoto -insert evil laughter- ... Erm, not really...sadly...

**Thanks for reviews** go to : KakashiKrazed, Pance, hentai18ancilla, living laughing dead, Absentminded Dreamer 1310, SilverPantherSM, KC and black_hole

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait but Naruto is turning out to be a real stubborn ass. And Kashi's always making fun of me -grumbles-. So I got annoyed at them last week and decided to ignore them for a while but really, that didn't make it better...

Let me present... the last introductory chapter. And YES, that means there will be some action coming chapter four!

* * *

_Chapter Three_

Kami bless the old woman that lived two floors below him, Naruto snickered to himself.

"Medic in position", came Mai's voice through the radio transmitter.

"Yeah, Mercury, too."

"Ummm, Mercury?"

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Do you see the target? Or Blondie for that matter?"

"Erm, now that you mention it…"

Naruto grinned. "Relax guys", he said soothingly, "mission's been a full success."

"… huh?"

"My thoughts exactly, Kenji", Mai added," Naruto, what did you… is that PURRING I hear?!"

"Hmmm, I don't know what you mean, Mai. Isn't that right my little Tora-darling?", some meowing could be heard, then, "yes, that's a good kitty…"

The radio went silent and Naruto used the time to give the orange cat sitting on his lap a generous back rubbing. When he heard some rustling in the trees beside him he turned slightly to greet his two teammates.

"Hey there, I was waiting for you. You see, this little fellow here was really hungry and seeing as my neighbor has some cats I asked if I could borrow some cat food…", Naruto said innocently.

"That is soooo not fair", Kenji grumbled and eyed the feline in Naruto's hands with distrust as if daring it to escape again.

"Next time give us a call, Naruto-senpai", Mai sighed and fingered her hair to get some leaves out that were stuck in it, "You know, there's this little button on your radio halfway between your mouth- and earpiece and when you push it-"

"Sarcasm doesn't really suit you, Mai. It makes you sound old and bitter", Naruto said blithely and stood.

"Ey, careful of who you're calling old, blondie", came Kenji's indignant defense of his female teammate.

"He's only joking, Kenji", Mai interrupted, "You know, as in being funny…"

"Sarcasm…", Naruto murmured but it went unheard.

"Joking?!", the silver haired boy snorted, "That guy wouldn't know a joke if it danced naked in front of him while juggling poisoned shuriken!"

Well, now that was a bit unfair, Naruto thought with mock hurt, he did know some good jokes but they simply weren't G-rated…

"Awww, come on Mai, you can't seriously expect me to…"

The bickering had already moved away from the original subject and Naruto took care to hide his amusement behind the high collar of his Chuunin west. His two comrades might not be the most talented ninja but he had to admit that spending some time with them wasn't completely unbearable…

"Would you mind terribly if we go to the Hokage's office and get our mission payment", he interrupted them blandly.

"Eh?! What's your rush?", Kenji asked, "So keen on doing another one of those lame D-ranks?"

"Hardly", Naruto yawned, "I just got home late from a retrieval mission last night and I was actually hoping to have some time to go to the Hot Springs."

Mai frowned. "Didn't Matsuri-sensei tell you to train us after we've finished our mission? I don't think we should just skip on that, Senpai."

"Ahh, what Matsuri-sensei doesn't know won't hurt her", Naruto countered carelessly, "Besides, I never said anything about skipping. I was just talking about … postponing it, really." He gave her a small grin.

"And you should stop with calling me Senpai", he added, "Just Naruto is good enough."

"Now you're just trying to change the subject, _Senpai"_, Mai accused," I still think we shouldn't-"

"Alright, alright. I got the message. Fine, so we're going to be training now, get our money later and I'll get my relaxation _afterwards_. Sounds better?", Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.

And he had been so looking forward to that soaking! His mission had involved him sitting in a tree for _nine fucking hours_ in pouring rain until the coast was clear to snatch some stolen jewelry back from some little thieves. Damn it, if he had known what a useless mission he'd receive, he wouldn't have bothered at all. This had be such a low C-rank that even a Genin could have managed. Well, maybe not, Naruto conceded quietly, the infiltration part did require some stealth. And they did have five Chunin nuke-nin guarding the perimeter… okaaaay, _perhaps_ it deserved its low B-rank. Barely. But still, _nine hours of icy rain_! Naruto shuddered at the memory. No matter how well trained he was rain at the beginning of winter was never pleasant.

Naruto shook himself off his thoughts. "Well then, meet me at training area 12 in …", he glanced at his watch," five minutes. If you don't make it in time I'll have you doing kunai-dodging with extra weights on. Ja ne!"

He disappeared in a flurry of leaves and left his two teammates turned students to catch up with him.

"He doesn't mean this, right?", Mai asked horrified, "right?! Last time we did that…"

"Ohhh, don't remind me", Kenji groaned," this was your stupid idea anyway! _I don't think we should just skip on that_", he mimicked her.

"Shut up and _move_", his teammate growled, "only four minutes left."

"SHIT!!!"

While his two temporary students sprinted across town as fast as they could go Naruto leaned lazily against a training post at area 12 and amused himself with reading a scroll on an earth jutsu he had just started learning. While his arsenal of offensive jutsu was nothing to scoff at he found his list on defensive ones glaringly short. Now that he was on a team permanently he supposed he needed some more supplementary and defensive techniques. It wouldn't do to leave Mai unprotected while she was doing her duties as a (aspiring) field medic, after all.

When he sensed two chakra signatures at the edge of the training field he put the scroll away and looked back at his watch for the countdown.

"23…22…21"

Dust rose from the ground as Mai and Kenji stopped before him and promptly bent over to catch their breath.

"Your speed really isn't up to par", Naruto observed unimpressed as the both of them wheezed away in front of him.

"Gah", Kenji panted, "you just had to use the training ground farthest away from us, bastard."

"Now, that's no way to treat the one in charge of your training, Kenji", Naruto said and nearly grinned in anticipation. They wanted training? Hell, he'd give them training!

"Get up", he ordered when he saw them dropping to the ground. A groan was his only answer.

"I said, get up", he repeated a bit more sharply," You asked for training and now you're moaning like some first year Academy students?! I want you to do 15 laps around the ground at your fastest pace. NO holding back, clear? If I see you going slower than your maximum speed you'll start the count again."

They started off with much grumbling and dark looks which Naruto promptly ignored. They wouldn't have the energy to complain before too long, anyway. While he watched them for any signs of cheating he once again returned to his jutsu scroll.

Half an hour later two panting and sweating Genin approached him to fall flat faced before his feet.

"Oh, you're finally finished?", he asked nonchalantly –he had, of course, kept track of their counting, "That took way too long. I guess I'll have to bring that up with Matsuri-sensei next time."

"…stupid…. fu…cking….stuck…up…"

"Save your breath, Kenji", Naruto admonished, "You get 15 minutes to cool down some. Use it to do some light stretching or whatever. When you're done, tell me."

A quarter of an hour later the two teens stood before their younger stand-in sensei.

"Okay", Naruto began and put his scroll into a pouch at his hip, "seeing as you are training to be a medic nin, Mai, I thought that some more chakra control exercises wouldn't go amiss."

He walked over to her and pulled one of his kunai from his holster. Seeing as they had already done the tree walking and water walking exercises – never mind the fact that Kenji was still getting wet feet from time to time- there weren't many new training method's left that were suitable for their chakra capacity.

"It is especially important for medics to regulate the chakra flow in your hands, as most healing jutsu require to be applied superficially and for you to direct the output from your hands. So here is what you do."

He proceeded to show her how to keep the kunai hovering on its tip over various parts of his hand.

"Contrary to tree climbing or water walking this exercise requires a much more finely tuned control. As far as I know, the Hyuugas use this as the first step to apply their Juuken. Do you have any questions so far?"

Mai mutely shook her head and went to stand over at the edge of the training field.

"Sooo, what about me?", Kenji asked.

"You?", Naruto allowed a small amused grin onto his face.

"You are going to spar with me. Because just as Mai said your taijutsu is truly awful."

"It's not that bad…"

Naruto raised an eyebrow and regarded him seriously. "Your stance is sloppy, your punches leave glaring holes in your defense, your sense of balance is on permanent vacation and I really don't know how you managed to not break any of your bones when using kicks. Shortly, your taijutsu sucks."

Kenji gaped at him, too angry to even find words.

"I'll show you sloppy", he ground out and tried to charge at Naruto.

Feinting to the left he tried to sweep the blonde's feet out from under him with his right leg while throwing a punch at his face. Naruto simply dodged the fist and sidestepped Kenji's leg. Now behind him, a swift chop to the back of his knees brought the teen to the ground and before he could wonder what had happened he was in a secure if slightly painful hold.

"I am not trying to ridicule you or to offend you personally, Kenji", Naruto said calmly even as he tightened his grip some more to keep his teammate from struggling, "I'm simply trying to point out where you've got problems so you can work on them. If you're too stubborn to see the truth and accept help when it's offered then you have no business being a shinobi. An attitude like that will only endanger our future mission success."

"I did graduate the Academy with my taijutsu, you know", Kenji panted, "So what the fuck is wrong with it now?!"

"Yes, you did", Naruto allowed and left up on his hold, "but do you really want to stagnate there? Academy taijutsu is nothing to be proud of it's just a step up from street brawling."

Kenji stood and rubbed the elbow and shoulder Naruto had used as leverage. "But I'm not even interested in taijutsu, I'm more into ninjutsu and weapons", he grimaced, "isn't it enough if Mai is good at it? I mean, we are a team so that could be her part…"

Naruto sighed internally and prepared for a small lecture. "Yes, that's true. In our team you will most likely take the part of a long ranged fighter but that doesn't mean you get out of learning at least the basics. Imagine Mai is injured or tending to someone and an enemy gets inside your range. What are you going to do then. You can't just rely on me coming to your help especially if we're dealing with more than one enemy. Or what happens when you get Chuunin and you are designated a solo mission? A ninja is always better the more well rounded he is."

Kenji frowned and looked at the ground. "Sounds sensible", he muttered dejectedly, "but I don't have to like it, anyway."

"Ok, then let's start with the basic stances and work our way up."

Naruto took time to correct Kenji's feet and arms and talked him through some simple katas that were mainly designed to improve the flexibility of the user.

"Let's stop here. You should do those exercises as often as you can in your own time."

Kenji nodded.

"Now, we're going to have a light spar", he went on, "come at me with your best and remember, keep your defense up!"

Kenji looked dubious but moved in on him to throw a punch. A slight tip to his shoulder alerted him to the fact that Naruto had just scored what would be a disabling hit.

"Again."

They went at it for another hour until Naruto called it quits. Mai slowly made her way over to them, looking as exhausted but not nearly as dirty as her Genin teammate.

"Ok, that's it for today. I'm going to tell Matsuri-sensei about what we covered so that you can continue with it in your training with her", he said and added in a fake innocent voice, "Now was that enough of a training for you, Mai?"

"Urgh, thanks a lot, _Senpai_", she answered a bit scathingly.

"No problem", Naruto said amusedly, "I suppose we have to go and get our mission payment now?"

"Don't bother", Mai muttered sulkily and shook her hurting hands, "I have to go there anyway. I want to get permission to help out at the hospital a few days a week so I can just get the money for us."

She turned and was just about to walk off when she hesitated. "Ano…would you care to come with me Kenji? I know your apartment is on the way there…"

Naruto bemusedly noticed a very light blush that had spread across Mai's face.

"Ahhh, thanks Mai but I wanted to ask Naruto if it's ok for me to go with him to the Springs", Kenji answered and yawned, "I'm really beat and hot water would be soooo good…"

"Oh, okay then." Mai shrugged, "have fun then. Bye!"

The two boys made their way to the onsen in relative silence. Relative meaning Kenji pointed out things he thought funny while Naruto only 'hmmm'ed in reply. He looked at the white haired boy out of the corner of his eyes. Kenji really was something else, he thought.

The boy was about half a foot taller than the blond and had a much stockier build. Instead of the usual shinobi pants that Naruto preferred he wore dark forest green shorts held up with a leather belt; a simple unadorned tanto was attached on its left side and a small supply poach at the right. Not surprisingly, his shuriken and kunai holster was on his right thigh over some bandages. At the moment he sported a washed out black shirt which seemed to be at least two sizes too big and a small bag was slung over his shoulders.

The only thing that deviated from the norm was his hitai-ate. Instead of a blue or black cloth that was standard issue and preferred by most ninja his was a shade of dark blood red. Surprisingly enough, it didn't look awkward or stood out compared to his normal dark attire.

Though honestly, that wasn't what had Naruto interested. At first he had thought that Kenji was exactly as he portrayed himself to be; a bit too loud, a tad too overconfident, much too proud and pretty much talentless.

Naruto's curiosity was first piqued when he got somewhat upset about his lack of surname but he discarded it soon, there were many people without a clan and without a name to them. But then, a few days ago had he had stumbled across his teammate in one of the smaller out-of-the-way training grounds. The boy had cut away at one of the training posts with his tanto and hadn't even noticed Naruto sitting in the trees behind him. Granted, if Naruto didn't want to be detected no one below Jonin level would be able to spot him.

He was just about to come out of the foliage and rib the Genin a bit about his unrefined technique when someone else entered the clearing. The lithe woman wore a long beige coloured trench coat which was open in the front to reveal a short-legged fishnet bodysuit with a rather tiny brown mini skirt over it. If that wasn't already a dead give-away then the way she lovingly played with the kunai in her left hand identified her. But what exactly did Mitarashi Anko want with his teammate over whose shoulder she was now hanging.

Naruto wasn't near enough to hear what they were saying but decided to stay and observe. Kenji suddenly tensed and pushed the woman away rather roughly. He was gesticulating agitatedly and from what Naruto could see his words hit home. Anko seemed furious and for a moment he thought she would attack his teammate which she was prone to do to people who pushed her buttons. But without warning her face suddenly blanked and she stood straighter. She said something short and clipped to Kenji, turned and stalked off rather stiffly. Naruto watched her go curiously until his eyes got drawn back to Kenji who had collapsed onto his knees and had his head hidden in his hands. A few minutes later he got back up and resumed training though his strikes seemed even more uncoordinated than before and much more intense.

Naruto had watched the teen for a while longer and then decided to leave him be.

Curious, Naruto mused again as they neared the Bath House. He wondered what that had been about.

He drove his thoughts off as he noticed the moisture in the air thicken with every step they got nearer to the Hot Springs. He took a deep breath and smiled slightly in anticipation. Mitsuri-sensei got that right, he thought, he really did love to come here. Although he didn't take the time to do so very often. Pity, really. Maybe he should change that.

The two boys nodded silently to the old woman who oversaw the use of the Springs and the women's part especially before they stepped into the men's changing room. It was empty apart from one young father who was desperately trying to convince the small boy at his side that peeing on the room's floor was not the way to go.

Naruto quickly shed his clothes and stowed them away before the disheveled father lost the argument. He grabbed a fresh towel from a stack by the sliding door and wound it securely around his hips.

"I'm going in already, Kenji", he said quietly, "I'll probably be on the far side, close to the partition wall to the women's part."

Kenji nodded as he struggled to pull his shirt over his head. Obviously, his muscles were already stiffening. "I'll be there in a minute", he grunted.

Naruto silently slid out the door into the saturated fog that was hanging over the numerous basins that made out the Springs. He swiftly made his way between them until he reached a slightly smaller one to the back of the area. Most of the pools were already occupied with numerous people so he was glad to see that only one other person was sitting in this one. He didn't pay much attention to the man who had his face hidden behind a small paperback book.

Naruto sighed inaudibly as he finally stepped into the hot water. Taking a breath he dipped under for a moment. The warmth on his face and the muted sounds did wonders to relax him but he swiftly surfaced again when a blurred shadow appeared over him.

"Hi Kenji", he greeted and raised his eyebrows in question at the tortured look on the Genin's face. Then his eyes travelled down his torso and took in the already forming bruises. "You don't look so fresh", he said innocently although the small grin on his face gave him away.

"No fucking shit", the teen ground out as he ever so slowly made his way into the water. As it reached his raw knees he let out a low yelp.

"That wasn't training, that was torture!", he complained darkly, "It probably made that Morino Ibiki-guy look like a fluffy bunny in comparison."

There was a slight rustle of pages to Naruto's left and he could have sworn he heard someone chuckle.

"Now, Kenji, that's just unfair", Naruto said and put his hands up in defense, "I'm sure Ibiki-san would resent that. My training wasn't that bad!"

Kenji just scowled as he sat down next to the blond.

"You saw my bruises, didn't you?! I nearly can't move right now. I don't wanna think about getting out of bed tomorrow! You really are one cruel bastard, Naruto. Thank Kami Matsuri-sensei is back soon!"

Again there was some quiet chuckling from the other side of the basin. Naruto looked up curiously and found his gaze held by a lazy black eye.

"Sooo… this is our short prodigy Kazama Naruto – unmasked." The lone eye gained an amused glint.

Naruto felt caught slightly wrong footed. It was just his luck to run into the one ANBU captain turned Jonin he actively _didn't_ want to meet.

The slender man had the lower half of his face hidden behind his book – Icha Icha Paradise as Naruto recognized – and had foregone his usual slanted hitai-ate. Instead the silver hair was weighed down by water and hung loosely around his head obscuring his left Sharingan-eye completely. It made the famous Copy Nin seem younger, Naruto mused. If he didn't know that the man was really 23 years of age he would have estimated him to be around eighteen or nineteen.

"Good evening, Hatake-san", Naruto replied politely, outwardly unfazed by the slight on his non existing height.

"Seems like someone played drill instructor and overdid it a little", the renowned Jonin continued to poke fun at Naruto," Nothing like torturing unsuspecting victims to compensate for being vertically challenged, is there?"

Naruto felt his ire spike shortly. Who the _hell_ did that guy think he was?!

"You know, if the rumor is true then they still threaten Rookie ANBU with setting you on them if they don't take their training seriously. And what was that about you scaring some poor Genin team to tears a few months ago… Much to c_ompensate for_?", he shot back challengingly.

There seemed to be something akin to honest interest in the Hatake's lone eye for a split second before it was suppressed beneath a lazy expression. Obviously there weren't many people who dared to talk back to the famous Sharingan no Kakashi.

"Aww, that was below the belt, Naruto-_kun_", he answered, "It was all in the job description as Captain. They pretty often require a … _strong hand_… If you choose to sometime join the Black Ops I might decide to take back my old job. Just for you…" He wriggled his eyebrow suggestively.

Naruto was very sure that any other ten-year-old would have completely missed the innuendo Hatake put into his words. Sadly, spending most of his life with people considerably older than himself he was quite versed with _this _kind of 'underneath the underneath' and, just as sadly, Hatake very obviously didn't seem to mind that he was just indeed conversing with a 'child'. Thus Naruto found himself valiantly fighting the mortified heat rising to his face as he floundered for a comeback.

Fortunately, this was where his so far conspicuously absent luck decided to make itself known in the form of a confused Kenji.

"Ano… who _is_ this guy?", the Genin demanded of Naruto with the delicacy of a sledgehammer.

The blonde grabbed his ticket out of embarrassment with both hands.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kenji", he said cheerfully, "I should have introduced you to begin with. This", he motioned somewhat exaggeratedly to the man across them, "is one of Konoha's most famous and feared Jonins. His name is Hatake Kakashi but I think you know him better as the Copy Ninja…"

He trailed off as he saw disbelieve and recognition flitting across his teammates face until it settled for awe. Naruto nearly laughed at the dawning look of horror in the Hatake's eye just as Kenji opened his mouth.

"Sugoi! I heard so much about you! Is it really true that…"

Naruto quickly tuned his teammate out and shot his temporary adversary a victorious smirk to counter the dark look he was receiving.

He leaned back onto the edge of the basin and closed his eyes to finally relax. Only after a few more minutes could he discern the reason why he still didn't feel fully at ease; the constant stream of questions and exclamations of Kenji had yet to cease and was making it hard for him to shut off his brain. Sighing, Naruto once again submerged himself into the hot water. The distorted voice of his teammate reached his ears only faintly in contrast to the rushing and slight gurgling of the water. The light painted curious shapes behind his closed eyelids as it travelled first though the swirling fog and then into the water. Breathing out, he let himself float deeper. Some of his hair caressed his cheek and distantly Naruto felt relief that he had taken pains to growing it out long enough to conceal much of his facial structure if he so chose. He was, after all, very much his father's son. He didn't want to think about how his life would be like if random shinobi recognized him as the Yondaime's son. Much less, if one of those random shinobi happened to be Hatake Kakashi. His back hit the washed out, rough bottom of the pool. A sudden increase in water pressure to his left ripped him out of his near meditative state and he quickly rose to the surface just in time to catch Kenji who had obviously slipped and nearly crashed into Naruto.

The sudden rush of noise hit the blond Chunin like a wall. Dismayed, he eyed his teammate.

"Kenji, this is a Hot Spring", he said slightly clipped, "people usually come here to relax, so could you please be a bit quieter and save your questions for another time?" Out of the corner of his eyes he caught Hatake rolling his single black eye at him as if to say '_You_ set him on me…'

"Spoilsport", Kenji murmured acidly to Naruto before he turned around, "Gomennasai, Hatake-san. I'll leave you be now. Thanks for answering my questions."

"No problem", the man responded and, when Kenji had looked away, nodded to Naruto with a small smile in his eye and turned back to his book.

Ahhhh, blessed silence…

* * *

Naruto came back to awareness when a light scuffle behind the wooden wall that was sectioning off the women's side caught his attention. Running a hand across his face he tried to get rid of the drowsiness that had claimed him. His fingers were pruney already he noticed distantly.

The harsh voices behind the high fence got louder; one was that of a young girl, the other he identified as the old rough sound of the overseeing matron they had met at the entrance.

"But I didn't do-", the teary voice of the girl was cut off by the sound of flesh hitting flesh. A slap, a hard one at that to be heard this loud.

"Don't you dare to come here again, you ungrateful brat!", the old woman hissed.

"But…", a sniffle reached Naruto's ears.

"I said OUT!", the matron very nearly screamed. By now the altercation had gotten the interest of most of the visitor's on the men's side and Naruto was fast to discern the identity of the dressed down girl. Now if only the old woman didn't let this get out of hand…

"We don't want the likes of you here scaring away the guests! Go, get LOST, you filthy de-"

Too much to hope for, Naruto internally groaned and tensed in case he was required to step in.

"EY!", the voice of one of the present ninja timely interrupted the matron, "KEEP YOUR VOICE DOWN!"

The noise on the other side instantly died down and Naruto only heard naked feet rapidly hitting the ground; the Kyuubi vessel had beat a hasty retreat.

Out of the corner of his eyes he noticed a metallic glint as the Copy Nin relaxed his right hand he had been resting outside the basin. A kunai, Naruto identified. So he had been ready to step in and enforce the Third's Law by force if necessary. Somehow that thought calmed Naruto while at the same time his stomach started to churn slightly. As always when his mind wandered to Ami he felt a myriad of emotions clouding his head, from anger to pity and sadness everything was present but, as always, the prevalent one was gnawing guilt.

Naruto closed his eyes for a second to regain his bearing then he stood abruptly causing steam to rise from his overheated body into the chilly night air.

"I'm sorry Kenji", he said quietly to his teammate who had thought nothing of the exchange, "I just remembered that I was supposed to meet with some other Chunin tonight and I'm afraid I'm already late."

"That's alright, Naruto", Kenji yawned, "I guess I'll stay a bit longer. Do we get to see you soon?"

"Only when you're ready to take the first C-ranked mission. But that shouldn't be too long now. After all, you've been a Genin for nearly four months already."

"Really? That's cool! Those D-ranks are really kinda stupid, if you ask me… Well, see ya!"

Naruto held his hand up in a short wave and gave a nod to the Hatake before he hastily left the bathing area.

Back in the changing room he quickly dried off and slipped into his clothes then he left trying to find the old matron. He found her scrubbing the floor at the entrance and watched her silently for a few minutes. Her long hair was of a light grey colour, her posture was stooped and the face held many wrinkles. While she must have been a real beauty many decades back several bitter lines around her mouth and a perpetually narrow gaze depicted a woman who had not born her life's burdens with dignity but more like quarreled with them every step of the way.

Naruto squared his shoulders and detached himself from the wall he had slouched against.

"You had better be careful of where your treacherous mouth runs next time, lady", he murmured quietly and stepped out of the shadows.

The woman whirled around as fast as her age allowed. She looked afraid for a moment but her face grew slightly haughty and contemptuous when she spied him.

"I don't know what you are on about, boy", she said dismissively and made to continue with her work.

"Don't play me for a fool", Naruto responded calmly as he took a step closer, "That girl didn't do anything to you. There was no reason to treat her like you did."

"_Did nothing_?", the woman hissed, "You don't know anything, _child_! She is a vile, evil thing! She must have dozens upon dozens of people on her conscience! Didn't your parents tell you to stay away from her?!"

Naruto's eyes grew cold as his blood roared in his ears. How could Konoha's people be so hateful and ignorant? If it wasn't for her… _It would have been him_, an insidious vice whispered at the back of his mind. It would be him they'd be talking about, him they'd be reviling… Ruthlessly, he squashed these disturbing thoughts and concentrated on his fury.

"Hundreds", he whispered icily, "It was hundreds that died that day, among them my father. And still, as much as you all loved and praised your Yondaime you put so little faith into his ultimate work."

The woman eyed him shrewdly. "You're too young to remember the Kyuubi's attack. How would you know about such things?"

"Perhaps from a few drunkards running their mouths loose, perhaps not", Naruto shrugged, "Just be aware that there are some that honor the Fourth's last wish and consider her a hero… as there are those that have taken the Sandaime's law to their heart. Speaking about what happened is still considered treason and I for one won't hesitate to deal the punishment, if it becomes necessary."

The matron had paled during his speech and now watched him slightly fearfully. "B-but you're still only a child…"

"I am a shinobi, first and foremost", Naruto countered, ", and loyal to the Hokage."

Instead of drawing it out and watching her sweat for a while he turned abruptly and left into the chilly night.

He didn't notice the tall figure that slipped out behind him and trailed him all the way over Konoha's rooftops to his destination: an old, shabby apartment building at the edge of the village's slums. The complex seemed abandoned except for two dimly lit windows on the first floor which gave view into a rundown looking living room. A pale girl with middle length purple hair was curled on a moth eaten couch. She stared dully ahead and there were tear tracks visible on her face. Ami, the _Jinchuuriki_…

The dark-clad figure was completely silent as he waited in the shadows behind Naruto. The blond haired boy sat still for an undeterminable amount of time and the watcher could not discern any emotion on his face as he kept his eyes glued on the defeated girl's features. Only when Ami trudged into the back of her apartment and the light got turned off, there got some life into the young Chuunin. His so far poised posture slouched slightly as he stood and bowed his head. He mumbled something but nothing could be heard over the distance, then he seemed to take a deep breath, straightened and sped off, presumably towards his own home.

As soon as he was gone the tall figure gave up his watch and moved slightly. The rather memorable face of Hatake Kakashi was illuminated by a street lamp as he rubbed his masked chin in thought. He was not an overly curious person by nature but something about Kazama Naruto kept bugging him. Since he had met the young and rather reserved Chunin the first time in the Hokage's office he had made some discreet inquiries and had so far only heard the best about him. But it really bore some thinking as to how the boy knew about the Yondaime's seal on Ami. Of course, he _could_ have heard something about it in the seedier parts of Konoha but he doubted anyone _there_ would have instilled such a high regard of the fourth Hokage's skills in Fujin Jutsu. Then there was the Sandaime whom the teen had reportedly a pretty good relationship with; but the old man wouldn't break his own law for a mere Chuunin as talented as he might be…

Kakashi stared speculatively into the direction Naruto had left for. He really didn't like mysteries or the hassle that came with them but he liked it even less to not know everything about something intriguing and potentially dangerous. Yes, maybe he'd try and keep his senses tuned to news about that Naruto…

* * *

_(TBC)_

Well, that was my try at a longer chapter. I didn't know where to break it off and if I even should. It has about 6500 words which I think is a bit much, actually. What do you guys prefer? **Do you like short (like the last two) or long chapters better?**

Next chapter: Our favorite team gets their first joint C-rank mission and the tentative team work goes down the drain... Stay tuned!

Cheers ginoeh


	5. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer:** same as always

**A/N: **I was very pleased by the positive reviews I received for the last chapter. Special thanks goes to **KakashiKrazed** as I've come to look forward to your observations. BTW, the last chapter wasn't planned like that at all! It just kind of ... flowed away from me for a second and when I got a hold on it again it had turned out as you saw it.

I won't apologise for the long wait, by the way. I do feel slightly bad that you had to wait for so long as personally I also prefer regular updates but fact is, that most of us authors here still have a real life (even if it takes a back seat sometimes) and it usually catches up with us at the most inopportune of moments. So if anyone of you knows their way around _Advanced Quantum mechanics_ you are cordially invited to share your wisdom with me as I'm doing my **cking best here and still can't make head or tails of it... :-(

Now, without further ado I give you ...

* * *

_Chapter Four_

A few weeks later found Naruto leisurely making his way towards the Hokage Tower with Hana walking beside him. He was scheduled to meet his team there at nine o'clock to receive their first joint C-ranked mission. Winter had now really come over Konoha and despite Hi no Kuni usually having moderate temperatures during those months it was a freezing cold morning.

Hana shivered and pulled her furry anorak closer around her body to preserve heat and her Haimaru Sankyodai crowded close around her.

"Remind me again, why are we out here at barely half past seven?", she asked with chattering teeth while her voice was smothered by her high collar.

Naruto shrugged and shot her a look. "It was your idea to invite me for breakfast before I leave for the mission…don't blame me for your discomfort."

"How are you doing it, anyway", she groused ignoring what Naruto had said, "You should be freezing your ass off in those clothes you're wearing!"

True, on first glance, Naruto wore his usual shinobi attire consisting of black cargo pants held together at the hem with bandages, a black loose fitting long sleeve and his standard Chuunin vest over it. As always, fingerless gloves were on his hands with a metal plate protecting their back. His only obvious concession to the cold was his leather boots that came up over his ankles instead of the normal sandals.

"Ah, I'm just a tough guy like that", the blonde responded airily and ran a hand through his longish hair mock conceitedly, "besides, not everyone is as susceptible to the cold as you are, Hana. You don't see many Jounin running around looking as if they're 'freezing their asses off', either."

"Yes, but you are not a Jounin", she replied snarkily.

"Yet, you mean. But to be honest, I simply took a leaf out of their books. A nice forthcoming store owner told me about those thermal bodysuits that you wear under your normal clothes, so there you go… nothing special behind it."

"It still must be pretty cold."

"True", Naruto shrugged, "but you get used to it quickly. Just see it as part of the training."

They stopped in front of a small, cozy looking restaurant that the sign outside identified as 'Nakamura's Palace'.

"I still don't get why we couldn't have just gone to Ichiraku's", Naruto muttered quietly upon seeing the place.

"Because", Hana replied with an air of gloating victory as she pulled the door open, "Ichiraku's doesn'.breakfast!"

"Sure it does. Ramen _is_ breakfast…", the blonde's reply was ignored by his companion.

Breakfast turned out to be a silent affair. Hana was mourning her loss of sleep, Naruto was mourning the loss of a solid, Ramen-filled meal and the owner of 'Nakamura's Palace' was mourning the loss of several days' worth of quality meat due to Hana's monstrously large dogs.

After having eaten their fill they parted ways and Naruto sped off towards the Hokage Tower. Nodding to several Chuunin and a few Jounin on his way to the mission office he arrived just in time to catch his team being called into the room.

"Ohayo, Naruto-kun!", his blue-haired sensei greeted him cheerfully, "I was just thinking you were going to be late…"

"Iie… I was having breakfast with Hana", Naruto explained, "Besides, when have I ever not been on time?"

"Hey, come on guys", his male teammate urged, "I wanna know what mission we're gonna get. Just imagine! A C-rank! And after only four months of training!"

The third member of Team Matsuri just rolled her eyes fondly. "He's been like that ever since you let it slip that we're getting a higher ranked mission soon", Mai complained, "Only _you_ didn't have to put up with him after that!"

"Maa, I'm sorry Mai", Naruto replied lazily, "If I had known that my comment would turn him into a hyperactive nuisance I-"

"-would have done it all the same?", Mai interrupted him with raised brows.

Naruto grinned slightly but didn't contradict her.

Matsuri just sighed and pushed both of them into the mission room to join Kenji.

A young Chuunin was occupying the space behind a desk that was stacked so high with mission scrolls that it threatened to topple over and burry the man beneath it.

Naruto blinked at him. "Nani? I haven't seen you here before, Chuunin-san. When did you start working here?"

"Iruka just started today, Naruto-kun", a gravelly voice answered the blond shinobi before the questioned Chuunin could open his mouth. An old man detached himself from the shadows he had been hidden by and stepped up to the mission desk.

"Hokage-sama", Naruto saluted surprised and stood straighter. Despite having a rather close relationship to the aging Shadow of the Leaf he knew not to show their familiarity openly. He noticed Matsuri straightening next to him while Mai looked somewhat shell-shocked and Kenji just gaped… with his mouth open (which Naruto privately thought looked rather unattractive).

"At ease, Naruto, Matsuri", the Hokage said amusedly, while taking out his favored pipe and filling it with some tobacco that had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere. "I am simply observing Iruka on his first day to help him adjust to the work."

"Ano… What happened to Miki-san?", Naruto questioned, "He was perfectly fine yesterday morning. Wouldn't it be his job to help Iruka-san?"

"Ah, I believe he said something about his fiancé, Icha Icha and a painful accident with a flower pot if I'm not mistaken", the old man mumbled around the stem of his pipe while not quite meeting Naruto's eyes.

Naruto sweatdropped slightly and made sure not to catch the eye of either of his steaming female team members next to him.

Sadly, Kenji didn't seem to value life preservation tactics very much. "Huh? What is this _Icha Icha_?", he asked confusedly, "And why wouldn't that guy be able to work because of it?"

"It's a book", Mai answered sweetly, "And before you ask what it's about, did you know that I'm still searching for a guinea pig to try my new medic jutsu on? It's called 'chakra scalpel'…"

Naruto in a rare show of male solidarity decided to spare his teammate a very painful lesson in medic jutsu and cleared his throat poignantly.

"Well, nice to meet you, Iruka-san. We are here to receive our first joined C-rank mission. If you would be so kind…"

"Ah…erm, of course", the Chuunin answered embarrassedly. He reached into the pile of scrolls to his left and pulled one out that had a 'C' printed on it in bold letters followed by a 'l' and some identification numbers.

"Here you are", he said and held out the scroll for Naruto to take it while perusing a rather long piece of paper, "The parameters state that it's a simple escort and delivery mission, low C-level. Your client is Watanabe Ritsuka. He wants his daughter escorted to his wife's family and a letter delivered to said family's head. The rest is explained in the mission scroll."

"Arigatou gozaimasu, Hokage-sama, Iruka-san."

Matsuri bowed politely and took the scroll from Naruto.

"Let's go, my dear disciples!"

The four of them left the office and chose some chairs in the waiting area that was now slowly filling to open their assignment.

Mitsuri scanned over the scroll for a second and turned to her students. "Well, this mission is going to take us approximately two weeks. The daughter's name is Watanabe Midori and she is awaiting us at the West Gate in three hours. We are to escort her to Takayama, a small merchants' town to the north-east of Konoha."

"Ne, Matsuri-sensei, what about that letter we have to deliver?", Mai asked while trying to peek over Matsuri's shoulder.

"It states that it is the confirmation of some business transaction Watanabe-san made here in Konoha. We are to deliver it to the patriarch of the family."

Kenji scrunched up his face in confusion. "Ano… having us deliver the letter costs them extra, doesn't it? Then why didn't that Watanabe guy just give the letter to his daughter? Doesn't he trust her?"

Matsuri smiled slightly. "It doesn't have anything to do with trust, Kenji-kun. Only, Midori is a six-year-old civilian preschooler. I wouldn't entrust an important business contract to someone her age either!"

"… the operative word being 'civilian'…", Naruto muttered, jokingly put out, as he snatched the mission scroll out of his sensei's hand to read it over, "because I certainly would have trusted myself with it at that age. After all, I _was_ a Genin already by then…"

"Stuck up prick", Kenji scowled.

Mai just rolled her eyes as their blue-haired sensei ushered them out of the Tower.

"Well", she said after they had stepped out into the chilly morning air, "Let's meet at 1200 at the West Gate. Pack lightly but make sure you have all the necessary equipment." In a swirl of leaves she was gone.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and turned to his teammates that stood around somewhat unsurely.

"As she said. Jaa!", and sped off.

* * *

Naruto turned up at the West Gate at five till twelve to be greeted by his sensei, Kenji and the glaringly obvious absence of one Itou Mai. Casting a questioning glance at Matsuri he only got a dismissive shrug as response before the tall woman leaned back against a lamp post and closed her eyes again.

"So, where are Mai and the clients?", he asked his remaining comrade who sported a slightly sulky face.

"No clue where Mai is", he answered curtly, "Prob'ly still trying to stuff her thick winter coat and 10 different kinds of spare clothes into her backpack. She can be girly like that."

He kicked a pebble in frustration which earned him a scowl from a passing Chuunin who nearly got hit by it.

"And the ... clients...", here his dark mood seemed to plunge even deeper, "That girl's a little spoiled sissy that's been getting on my nerves in the ten short minutes I've seen her. Now she's off with 'Daddy' to get some 'farewell sweets' or whatever."

"No disrespecting the clients, Kenji", Naruto admonished with a raised brow, "Especially, if he's coming our way and could have heard us." He nodded to a middle-aged bearded man who had a small pink-clothed… something… clinging to his shoulder and was heading straight towards them.

"Watanabe-san", Naruto greeted shortly and fell into a small bow. The heavy-set man nodded dismissively and turned to Matsuri who had given up her relaxed posture and looked somewhat more alert.

"If I'm correct your team is still a member short", He stated more than asked and looked at his wristwatch, "I'm on a narrow schedule, I'm afraid. I had hoped I'd get to see my daughter off but I have to get back to work soon."

He paused slightly and if his depreciatory look was anything to go by he was close to give some sharp comment on punctuality. He desisted; Naruto noted and was glad for it as Kenji next to him seemed to be nearly seething at Watanabe-san's arrogant attitude.

He watched rather indifferently as Watanabe dislodged his daughter gently from his shoulder and set her on the ground. She seemed petulant and sulky and complained loudly about having to wait (and stand and walk and be alone and about anything else that a six-year-old could complain about). Somehow, she reminded him of Kenji in a girly and non-shinobi way.

Watanabe left soon after and the group of four was left waiting for their last member. Finally, at twenty past twelve Naruto spotted his brown-haired team member approaching in a panicked run.

Out of breath and red-faced she stopped before them. "Gomen… Gomennasai, Matsuri-sensei", she huffed and bowed, "It took me longer to pack than I thought…"

"You do know", Naruto said coolly before his Sensei had the chance to reply, "that most team captains would have left without you and reported you for negligence on duty and insubordination, don't you?"

"What…"

"Ey, don't be like that, Naruto", Kenji defended his female companion, "it's not as if we're ANBU or anything, right?!" He gave Mai a small grin.

"It's handled like that even in Chuunin cells", Naruto replied indifferently, "Shinobi are required to be combat-ready within minutes, _you_ had hours and didn't manage it. If this was a time-sensitive matter you could even be put on trial for undermining and delaying Konoha's forces. We don't have the luxury to care for which clothes or how much make-up we take with us."

Moisture was gathering in Mai's eyes at his harsh words but Naruto paid it no heed. Even if it was a simple escort mission his team mates should take this assignment seriously. They better learned it now than later. He barley suppressed a frown when his eyes swept over her bulging backpack. It had to weigh about five times as much as his own minimalistic pack. Well, she'd see how far she'd get with it considering her still less than stellar stamina. Though luck was on her side he supposed, considering that their charge was a small civilian girl.

Kenji took Mai gently by her arm and started walking with her towards the main street but not without throwing Naruto a dark and nearly contemptuous look. Matsuri who had the little pink-clad brat next to her just raised an eyebrow somewhat reproachfully as if to say 'And that was helping the team dynamics _how_ exactly…?'

The little girl at her feet eyed him for a moment before declaring in a voice as resolute as any six-year-old could possibly have: "You're a big meany! I don like you."

Naruto blinked unbelievingly for a second and then sweatdropped. What a great start to their first C-rank!

* * *

They had been on the road for six days already and Naruto's nerves were more than a little frayed. Of course, Kenji's and Mai's mood had also been getting progressively darker and even Matsuri had abandoned her initially cheery demeanor. Now, Naruto wouldn't have been surprised or overly bothered by it had this been a stakeout or recon mission with anticipated enemy contact in hostile environment and constantly bad weather. Only, it wasn't. There had been nothing but sun and fluffy clouds, the temperature hadn't sunken too low and they were travelling on a fortified road with nice passers-by in Hi no Kuni.

The only problem was…

"Are we there yet…?", a whiney voice asked from some steps behind him.

Naruto closed his eyes in exasperation. He seriously considered starting praying for patience.

"…an' I don' wanna walk anymore! 'm tired…" The little girl pulled her face into a pout which would have been rather cute had she not been voicing her complaints every day for hours on end already.

"We are going to have a small rest in a few minutes, okay Midori-chan?", Matsuri said placatory but only managed to get a small 'humph' in response from the kid.

This was actually only the second time during their journey that she had to walk herself as most times she would be carried by one of the four shinobi. On the first day Kenji had asked why they couldn't just move at their normal travelling speed when they were carrying the girl anyway until Mai had silently pointed out a paragraph in their mission scroll detailing Midori's medical condition. It turned out the girl was extremely easily frightened to the point of hyperventilation and her family had a history of having their women turn epileptic. So no fast or abrupt movements for them…

As promised they set up camp a few miles later in a small clearing off to the left side of the road. The two Genin were tasked with occupying Midori while Matsuri-sensei took over getting some water and firewood. Naruto set up their tents and was just about to prepare a camouflage jutsu when he got the foreboding feeling that something had changed.

"Hey, Mai, Kenji", he called quietly to his teammates while keeping his eyes on the forest around them, "I'm going to scout the area. Something feels off…"

"Huh? You do that Naruto-senpai", Mai answered absentmindedly and tried to keep Midori away from her set of shuriken.

Kenji just waved him off.

"Keep your guard up", Naruto advised before he took off into the forest.

Quickly taking to the trees Naruto decided to circle their camp southwards counter clock-wise. Matsuri-sensei had gone north-west where she remembered a small stream to be so she should have sensed anything coming from that direction. The foliage around him had thinned out with the winter months and allowed for a good lookout. Soon the street came into view again and Naruto swerved to the right to travel parallel to it. He eyed a small trail for a second that crossed his path on the ground but dismissed it quickly; one person wouldn't pose much of a danger. So far there had been no sign of trouble anywhere. Nothing that justified his tingling danger senses…

He followed his chosen path for a few miles always taking care to keep the road in sight. Just as he was about to turn right and continue his circle around the camp his sharp senses caught a whiff of burnt wood in the crisp winter air. Immediately, Naruto halted and crouched on his tree branch. Directing a small trickle of chakra to his nose he enhanced his olfactory center to nearly inhuman levels. Soon he had discerned the direction of the smell.

When he moved again he let his intensive stealth training take over his instincts. Unseen he slipped between trees and brushes, his lithe body nearly melding into the wintrily brown and dark green surroundings. Naruto forced himself to slow down once he reached the origin of the smell. Hiding in between the branches of a common spruce he overlooked the clearing that had opened up in front of him. The source of the smoky odour he had noticed became obvious at once. The remains of two fireplaces were scattered around the trampled ground. After assuring himself that no one was near Naruto left his high perch and swiftly entered the clearing.

His blue eyes took in several small details that helped him paint a pretty accurate picture about the group that had camped here. To his left near the center of the free area a few holes in the ground and the remains of a wooden post signified the place where an average sized tent had been erected. Considering the position of the tent near the center of the trampled part of the clearing he assumed that it had housed some sort of leader or at least someone of higher standing than the rest. A few broken arrow shafts were littered around one of the fire places and he found a discarded heavily used whetstone near a small boulder.

Naruto narrowed his eyes in slight concern. It seemed as if samurai or mercenaries had set up camp here not too long ago. Judging by the circle of abused greenery and the size of the fireplaces he assumed there to be at least ten of them if not more. Quickly he moved over to the scattered ashes of the fire. He crouched down tensely and ground some of the ash between his fingers. It was still slightly warm.

"Now, where did they leave for…", he murmured to himself as he scanned the sparse shrubbery around the abandoned campsite. After a few seconds of scrutiny he had identified the two main entrance/exit points of the area. Considering that one pointed in northern direction while the other possible route went straight to the southeast there was only one deduction to come to.

"Seeing as we didn't come across a large force of bandits yet and the camp was left four hours ago at most, I'd say…fuck." Naruto concluded dryly and straightened up again.

His mind was working a mile per hour as he took to the trees again and followed the obvious trail of freshly broken leaves and badly concealed footprints. If he took into account the direction of the trail it would lead the band of mercenaries directly to the resting place of his team. Only, wouldn't he have noticed a bunch of nearly untrained brutes in the forest even if they were travelling a few miles away from him? Considering the pace of non-shinobi travelling in a large group they should have already passed their campsite but there had been no sign of them. Had they swerved to the west then Matsuri-sensei would have encountered their trail and Naruto knew his Jonin-sensei well enough to know that she would have immediately turned back and informed him about her discovery.

Which meant that they had to be somewhere to the south of their campsite and keeping really quite… which in conclusion strongly implied that they were lying in wait for an attack…

But how did they know… Naruto's eyes suddenly widened when he remembered the one-person trail he had disregarded on his way. One of their cronies must have travelled on the regular street to scout out possible victims and from afar the pace Naruto and his team had been keeping clearly indicated them to be simple civilian travelers…

Naruto felt his heart rate speed up slightly as he left the route of the bandits and doubled his speed to reach his team as fast as possible. Matsuri-sensei was gone for the moment and his Genin-teammates were left unguarded. That mistake could cost them in blood!

He had covered more than two thirds of the way when the sound of branches breaking made him to stop so abruptly that he nearly lost his footing and caused a bit of scraped off bark to tumble into the dead leaves below. Cursing himself for being caught off-guard he nearly melted into the tree trunk when he spied three men walking though the greenery not too far away.

"So Jougo sent us out here to intercept _one_ brat?!", the left most of them grumbled angrily and fingered his Hamidashi with his right hand, "Isn't that a massive overkill…?"

"You're just disappointed that you won't get near that girl", the burly man to the right replied. He had a crude looking katana at his hip which didn't seem to be in the best condition.

"Shut up, both of you", the third interrupted them. His voice was hoarse and he sported an eye patch over his right eye. A thick scar marred his left cheek and continued down across his throat until it vanished beneath the collar of his dirty brown shirt. Probably the result of a pretty botched up attempt at slitting his throat. "Let the others take care of that silver-haired brat. In the end Jougo is only interested in the two girls and the woman. They'll sell well on the market and we'll all get our fair share of money. Besides, after we're finished here we can join the others."

Naruto's face was impassive as he stealthily circled around the three mercenaries until he was in their back. He quickly performed a few seals as he hid behind a low bush. "_**Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu**__"_, he murmured quietly and instantly a copy of himself emerged from the ground next to him. "Go to the campsite and warn Mai and Kenji. Stay unseen by anyone but them. If they're already fighting help them but make sure that Midori is kept safe. I'll be along shortly." The clone nodded to indicate he understood the instructions and was gone a second later leaving Naruto to deal with the three bandits on his own.

Now, how to go about this…

"_**Donton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu**_" Although this Jutsu was confined to a rather small area his three opponents were just in its allowed motion range. Unnoticed Naruto made his way underground until he was beneath the man with the eye patch. Lightening fast Naruto's hands shot up through the earth and grabbed around the ankles of his unsuspecting opponent. The man didn't have time to cry out when he was roughly pulled beneath the ground. The last thing he felt was the cold steel of a kunai against his neck. This time, there would be no scar.

Hearing the confused shouts of the man's companions, Naruto released the Jutsu a few feet to the left and rose up again his bloodied kunai still in his hand. The burly brute whirled around surprisingly fast and managed to get his katana up in time to block Naruto's strike.

"It's that brat", he shouted to his remaining comrade, "They're ninja! Go warn the boss, I'll hold him off!"

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'I'll hold him off'…?!

He parried a sloppy but forceful strike from the katana and used the gained momentum to flip over backwards. The sudden loss of resistance had the mercenary stumble forward slightly right into the path of a hard kick from Naruto which catapulted his sword out of his grasp. Nimbly flipping back onto his feet Naruto grabbed the still outstretched hand of his opponent, pulled him around in a half circle and planted his kunai into the base of his neck. Soundlessly the dead man slid to the ground.

Now for the other one… He quickly left the place of the fight and trailed his last missing opponent. It took less than a minute to catch up with him. Dropping silently from above he snapped the man's neck with a well placed kick before he was noticed.

Naruto left the body and didn't even slow down to catch his breath as he raced towards his team. He had been gone far too long already. Chances were that the main attack had already started.

Adrenaline pumped in his veins as the trees flew past him. Hopefully he could reach them in time… The noise of battle reached his sharpened senses as he neared the camp and his movements became stealthier to give himself a few seconds to assess the situation. The fight seemed to have been going on for several minutes already but Matsuri-sensei was nowhere in sight yet. Mai was near their pile of backpacks with Midori and was trying to hold off a dirty, gangly man that attacked her with a regular Rokshaku-Bo while Kenji and his Tsuchi Bunshin were several yards away from them and were slowly overwhelmed by nearly a dozen mercenaries.

Without pausing Naruto flitted through the surrounding trees towards Mai and pulled a few shuriken out of his weapon pouch. His aim was true and Mai suddenly found herself with more breathing room as Naruto dropped out of the foliage.

"Thanks", she gasped out and Naruto nodded in acknowledgment.

"Take that Bo and defend Midori. Don't stray too close to the woods", he ordered her calmly trying to diffuse the panic he saw in her eyes. He didn't stay to watch her accept his words but instead sprinted over towards Kenji. The boy was sweaty and slightly bloodied and had obviously received some stab wounds to his right arm which severely constricted his range of movement with his blade. Still, he managed to get into the guard of one of his opponents just as Naruto reached him. The guy stumbled back – dazed but alive.

"What the fuck are you doing", Naruto shouted unbelievingly over the clash of steel as his Bunshin held off another bandit, "Just finish them off already! They're not here to play!"

As if to support his statement several arrows homed in on the mercury-eyed boy and Naruto reacted just in time to parry them with one of his Kunai. He whirled around and let loose a volley of shuriken to where the arrows had come from. A pained scream ended in a wet gurgle but Naruto had no time to celebrate as his Bunshin chose this second to dissolve into mud again. Spinning to his left he struck out to throw a kunai into the cranium of some big, brown-haired goon when suddenly Kenji stumbled into the trajectory of his throw. Naruto's eyes widened and he disregarded the enemy that had come up on his right side as he fired off another kunai to throw his first one off course. He turned back barely in time to evade the blade of the mercenary.

"Kenji, go back to Mai and stay there!", he bellowed and continued to slash and stab ignoring the blood that made the handle of his kunai slippery. "No way!", the Genin yelled back angrily, "I can fight, too!"

"Damn it, Kenji! Protect the client!", Naruto ground out while using the momentum of an evasive spin to gut an opponent who had come up behind him, "That's a fucking ORDER!"

"But-"

A high pitched scream drowned out Kenji's reply and a hasty look in the direction of the two girls had a weight of lead plummet into Naruto's stomach. Mai was completely out of her depth as she fought against two mercenaries and was out of range to prevent a third one from snatching Midori and make a run for it into the woods.

"Damn it!" Naruto sprinted across the fighting site leaving Kenji to deal with his opponents and went after the kidnapper. In his peripheral vision he noticed Mai being knocked out cold just as something blue streaked across the field and several bandits fell in a bloodied mess. Matsuri-sensei had finally joined them.

The slave-trader, that had Team Matsuri's charge slung over his shoulder turned around at his mates' panicked screams. His eyes widened at the gory scene on the field and even more when he spied his pursuer.

"D-don't come closer", he gasped and swung Midori around to press a short knife against her carotid artery, "or I'll k-kill her." The girl whimpered slightly but Naruto kept his eyes on the kidnapper. He was sweating profusely and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down rapidly as he became fully aware of his situation, probably trying to keep himself from losing his stomach. The man seemed young, Naruto mused distantly, perhaps nineteen at most. His fear led the blond Chunin to believe that he had never done this kind of thing before.

A cut off scream form a gravelly voice had the kidnapper turn his head slightly and his eyes got even wilder. "Aniki…", he gasped out, "You bastards!!! This girl is dead!"

He pressed his knife deeper and warm blood spilled over his shaking hands as the little girl twitched helplessly and finally stilled in his grasp.

A maniacal grin stretched across his face even as Naruto saw tears tracking down his cheeks. "Now tha's what you get for killin' my brother, son of a-"

The man never got to finish his sentence. A sharp kunai severed his spine and he dropped face first onto the dirty ground.

The little girl however…

"Shhh, no need to cry, Midori. The bad guy won't harm you anymore…", Naruto murmured absently to the small female in his arms and shook off the residual blood from his kunai. Genjutsu, he thought detachedly and suppressed any pity he may have felt for the young bandit, one should never take their eyes off their opponent. Not even if your comrades or brothers were cut down. After all, a shinobi's greatest strength was deception…

The sound of fighting had died down when Naruto entered the camping site again. Three rough looking men were constrained against a tree, nine others lay on the slippery ground either dead or heavily wounded. Matsuri was tending to Kenji who had a large gash across the left side of his ribs and several small ones on his bare arms , Mai was sitting dazedly on their backpacks and stared onto a patch of bloodied grass avoiding looking onto the carnage itself.

Naruto made his way over to her and deposited the quietly sniffing girl into her arms. He really wasn't cut out to comfort people, even less if they were small children. It made him feel strangely uncomfortable and self-conscious…sullied, somehow.

"Hey Mai, look after Midori, would you?"

"Sure", she gave him a watery smile and turned her attention to the pink-clad girl that now clung to her and wouldn't stop shaking.

Making sure not to slip on the reddish, wet ground he trekked over to Mitsuri, completely disregarding Kenji on his way and gave her a small salute.

"Should I … take care of those guys?", he asked and kept his voice level. His body was running out of adrenaline and he started to feel several small scrapes he had received but he knew that the work was not over yet. Besides, he had been worse before.

Matsuri gave him an unreadable look before she nodded slightly.

"'I'll question the ones I caught on my way here. When you're done gather Kenji, Mai and Midori and go north-west, the area there is clear. You'll find a small stream not too far off. I'll join you in a few hours."

Naruto nodded in acknowledgment and turned to the grisly task of eliminating the last possible threats. 'Mercy killing', as it was usually called was something Naruto detested with his whole being. After his first kill on a botched up escort mission he had learned fast to shut out his feelings when it came down to it. Still, as much as it didn't seem to bother him anymore to kill his opponents, he was very glad to find that he had retained enough sensibility to not disregard a life easily. While he did his duty when in battle, he felt no enjoyment from it barring the so far singular occurrences where he had got lost in the 'thrill of the fight' as some older shinobi called it.

The trek to their new resting place was a quiet one and the camp would have stayed equally so after Mai had left with Midori to get cleaned up if not for Kenji.

Naruto would have been content to go on sharpening his kunai and counting his shuriken in silence but the stocky male decided to give vent to his feelings.

"Well, did you have _fun _when you abandoned me with five opponents?!", he asked in an uncharacteristically biting voice and tried to spear Naruto with his gaze.

Naruto stopped the motion of the whetstone for a second but didn't bother to look up. "I told you to retreat to Mai", he said quietly and fought to keep the anger in check that had gripped him when his teammate had refused to listen to him.

"What kind of Chunin _are_ you, leaving your teammates and going off Kami-knows-where!?", Kenji near-screamed.

Naruto's emotions boiled over; at himself for not recognizing the danger sooner, at Mai for being so fucking useless in a fight and, of course, at Kenji. In a fluid motion, too fast for his teammate to even track, he stood and took a measured step towards the silver-haired boy. The expression on his face was calm, almost lazy when he opened his mouth.

"Do not hold me responsible for your own mistakes, Kenji", his voice was light but had an underlying cold edge than the Genin had never before heard from a ten-year-old, "Had you followed my order Mai wouldn't have been knocked out and the girl wouldn't have been kidnapped. I was perfectly capable of taking care of those mercenaries on my own. There is a reason that a chain of command is usually in place in military organizations. If you and Mai still think being shinobi is a game then you should get lost as fast as possible because what both of you showed today was rather pathetic."

Ignoring his floundering teammate he turned around and left the camp before he lost his forced calm. He barely noticed Mai as she stood wide-eyed behind a bush with Midori at her hand.

Didn't they understand?! Kenji's stubborn refusal to listen had nearly cost them the mission. Ninja didn't have the luxury of 'talking about things' while in a battle, there were no suggestions but only _ orders_ to follow, especially if one was inexperienced.

Dropping to his knees beside the small gurgling stream Naruto stuck his hands into the water. The bitingly cold fluid stung but washed away the dirty blood that had dried on his palms and under his fingernails. Pretty pink swirls decorated the water for a few seconds before they were diffused again.

Why did they have to be so difficult, so… -so _naïve and innocent_, his mind whispered – so absolutely inept and untalented! They had chosen to serve the village and they should be prepared to do so. In every way. If they didn't then things might ultimately turn out like they did for his parents.

The rustling of leaves shook the blond-haired boy out of his increasingly dark thoughts.

"Hey Naruto", his Sensei greeted him quietly and stooped down next to him, "What are you doing?"

"I had a fight with Kenji", he whispered and continued to look into the water.

"I know", she sighed, "he told me all about it. More than I wanted to hear, actually."

Naruto knew that Matsuri wouldn't say anything else unless he started to talk. It was the way she usually had him work through problems since he became her apprentice when he was seven. It could be incredibly bothersome at times as she would be quietly displeased with him if he didn't talk but mostly he appreciated that she let him have the initiative.

"Why didn't he just do as I said?!", Naruto burst out frustrated. Only Kenji managed to get under his skin like that. Normally he'd be perfectly content to chew his adversary out and leave it at that.

"He's just a kid", Matsuri said placatory, "and a stubborn one at that. " She paused for a second. "As are you, by the way", she ribbed lightly.

"I'm not", Naruto retorted and creased his eyebrows, "I'm just…"

"Pigheaded? Obstinate? Headstrong?", the blue-haired woman suggested with a slight grin on her lips, "Or maybe…"

"Neither", Naruto refuted, "I simply know what I want and what is important."

Matsuri's smile disappeared and she looked uncommonly serious.

"Your teammates are also important, Naruto-kun, don't forget that", she admonished him softly, "Had I not turned up when I did, then who knows what might have happened. You are part of a team now and you have to act accordingly, even if you don't like them; which I honestly doubt, by the way."

She was silent for a moment but Naruto knew that she wanted to say something more. And he was right.

"I might call you stubborn, Naruto. But most others would call you arrogant to the extreme. Be careful, because of all the 'arrogant' people I've come across during my time as a ninja only a few are still alive. And they have incredible skill to back up their attitude. You're not there yet."

Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine at those words even as he tried to deny them. He hoped that he'd never fall into the trap of overestimating himself. He wasn't that arrogant, was he?

Next to him, Matsuri-sensei suddenly came out of her somber mood and looked at him fondly once again.

"Sooo, how about I treat you to Ramen at Ichiraku's once we get back to Konoha! After all, you do deserve a reward for putting up with two Genins and rookies at that. Just the two of us, how about it?"

A smile threatened to overtake Naruto's serious expression as he nodded in acceptance. They hadn't done that even once in the last five months since his Sensei had taken on the two Genins and even if he had tried to push it aside he had kind of missed the time with his Sensei. An annoying voice in the back of his mind insisted that he was simply jealous but Naruto resolutely shut it up.

"Well then, hurry up and join us at the fire. You've got the second to last watch from three to five in the morning."

She reached out to ruffle his hair but stopped at the last moment. "And go take a bath", she mumbled seemingly disgusted, "You've got blood _everywhere_…"

"Maa, I _was_ in a fight, you know", Naruto retorted smartly but then suddenly found his surroundings spinning confusingly until-

"Gah! Sensei!!! The water's freezing cold!"

Matsuri just gave him a two-fingered salute and sped off with a grin. "Jaa, Naruto-kun! Don't take too long!"

Despite his chattering teeth and cold wet clothes Naruto suddenly felt as content as he hadn't in a rather long while.

* * *

(TBC)

**Glossary:**

_**Tsuchi Bunshin no Jutsu **_- Earth Clone Technique, D-rank, support technique

_**Donton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu - **_Double Suicide Decapitation Technique, D-rank

* * *

Sooo, here we are, my very first try at action scenes. I would really like you to tell me what you think of it as I put several hours of work into it and I'd like to know how I can improve. If anyone is interested to know, the moves Naruto shows in Taijutsu are deliberately chosen to resemble those I have seen used or even learned so far myself (apart from the dropping down and snapping that one guy's neck...). Just so you know that they _are_ possible!

Please let me know what you think and REVIEW! Thanks!

Next chapter: The mission draws to a close and Team Matsuri get back to Konoha. Stay tuned!

Cheers ginoeh


	6. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer: **Business as usual!

**A/N: **Erm, yeeeees, you see... The Dalai Lama visited me personally last year, so I really had to prepare for that and had ab-so-lute-ly no time to write... yeah... So that's why this is late. Ahhh, whatever. I'm somewhat sorry, that I neglected this fic for so long but it's getting hard to write. There are so many details that turn up and have to be taken care of that I felt overwhelmed every time I opened the word document...

* * *

_Chapter Five_

The group of five reached Takayama only one day after the bandits' attack. The weather had been getting steadily worse throughout the day and it had been raining buckets now for close to an hour already. The four shinobi were drenched and fighting to keep themselves from shivering too much but what they were really concerned about was Midori. The girl was packed tightly beneath Matsuri-sensei's clothes to keep her warm but she hadn't stopped trembling since the fight the evening before and neither had she spoken a single word. Keeping to the directions given in the mission scroll they swiftly made their way towards their destination – the residence of a merchants' family called Outa.

Naruto found himself in front of their rather small compound a few minutes later after having been sent as an advance guard to announce their arrival. The area held only three moderately sized traditional houses and a small shrine near some trees at the back of it. Pounding against the bamboo gate – obviously meant more for décor than for actual defense – he was answered nearly instantly. A narrow window was opened and an elderly man looked at him searchingly.

"Please state your business", he asked politely, "…shinobi-san."

"My name is Kazama Naruto. I am part of the escort sent with Watanabe Midori. My teammates and the client will arrive shortly and will require some help."

Naruto kept it short and factual. The sooner they got into the warm and acquired a medic for Midori the better.

"Of course, Kazama-san. Please step inside." He opened the doorway that was built into to high gates and motioned the Chuunin through. "How can we help you?"

The door was closed again behind him and a young boy came up to them when they stepped onto the gavel pathway that led to the main building.

"Shinuske-kun, go and tell Aiji to take over at the gate. Outa-sama's granddaughter will arrive shortly. Don't dawdle, we need you here again!"

"Sure, Ojii! I'll be right back", the boy nodded eagerly and took off towards one of the smaller houses.

Having gained back the attention of the old gate guardian, Naruto spoke up again. "We got into a fight with several bandits yesterday evening. Midori wasn't hurt but she seems to be suffering from some sort of trauma due to it. It would perhaps be best to get a medic to take a look at her. And we have been travelling through heavy rain today so you should be careful. She might develop a fever."

They had reached the main house in the meantime and the guard opened the door for him to step into a small foyer.

"I will inform Outa-sama and get a maid to bring you some towels to dry off the worst. If you'll excuse me." He gave Naruto a short bow before he slipped out of his Zori and vanished behind the beautifully painted sliding door which led into the building proper.

Naruto stayed in the half-dark room which was illuminated by only a few candles. Now that he wasn't on constant look-out for danger and away from the tense atmosphere of his team he could feel his adrenaline fading rapidly. Small cuts from the fight the day before were starting to burn and itch beneath his wet clothing and he forcefully had to keep his teeth from chattering. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken over Mai's shift at guarding the camp after all, he mused absently.

Light steps brought him out of his thoughts and announced the arrival of the maid with the promised towels.

"Arigatou gozaimasu", he murmured as he took the white linen out of the servant's hands. The cloth had been heated up beforehand and although it didn't do much to dry his clothing it at least left his hands and face tingling pleasantly with warmth.

It was only a few short minutes later that the shoji doors were opened again. Two male servants and a motherly looking older woman swept past Naruto carrying blankets, an assortment of medical supplies and a slightly steaming carafe of some hot drink. The blond haired Chuunin was left to wait in the dark, the candles having been snuffed out by the draft of the fast moving servants.

Just as he was about to go outside again to see what was keeping his team for so long, the front door was pulled open and three soaked figures walked in bringing with them a wave of cold air and squelching wet footsteps. Not much was spoken while Mai, Kenji and the lithe Jounin dried themselves off with now cold towels. Mai seemed to have reached the end of her strength and was barely keeping her eyes open. The scent of fresh blood alerted Naruto to the fact that Kenji's wounds had reopened. The way the boy moved suggested that the gash across his ribs was hurting him quite a bit. Thinking back to the fight the day before, Naruto quenched any sympathy he might have had for the mercury-eyed boy. He was still angered by Kenji's thoughtless and rash attitude. Judging by the dark looks said Genin was periodically shooting him he hadn't cooled off either.

Conversation was sparse while the team waited to be shown to the merchant Outa and deliver the letter they had been entrusted. A short while later – which felt more like hours to the three young ninja - the old guardian of the gate arrived again.

"Please apologize the delay", the oldster bowed to Matsuri-sensei, "If you don't mind, I have organized for the girl and the boy to be looked over by a medic", he nodded towards the two Genin. "They may retire to their prepared quarters if they wish. Something to eat will be brought to them."

Under half-hearted grumbling from Kenji, he and Mai were soon whisked away by two maids, while Naruto followed Matsuri into the house proper to deliver the letter they had been entrusted and to share dinner with the master of the household.

* * *

It was several tiring hours later that Naruto opened the sliding screen to the quarters Kenji and he were supposed to share.

The older boy was laying haphazardly across his bedroll, his weapons, backpack and clothes placed semi-orderly beside him. Quietly, Naruto made his way over to where the maids had prepared his resting place.

Efficiently, he shed his weapons and changed his still damp clothing against a drier set from his backpack. He felt cold, despite the warm chamber they had been sitting in for the last few hours. The huge spread of food that had been served had left him feeling slightly nauseated and he couldn't bring himself to eat more than a bowl of miso soup and some grilled fish with rice. Even then, Naruto feared he wouldn't be able to keep it down.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto slipped silently underneath the covers and closed his eyes. His mind was churning, dredging up images he'd rather not think about. He turned around to face the other sliding door that went out into the garden and prayed for a restful night.

Naruto woke suddenly, sitting up in his bed, kunai clutched in one hand and heart pounding rapidly. He panted heavily for a few seconds, black spots dancing in front of his eyes until his rational side caught up with him. The blond forcefully slowed his breathing and tried to listen into the darkness for some possible danger that could have woken him.

Nothing.

Only the usual sounds of the night and Kenji's light snoring permeated the silence.

With the adrenaline abating Naruto felt himself shiver slightly. His clothes were clinging uncomfortably to his damp skin; the hand that held the kunai clutched it too tightly and was noticeably shaking.

He let it drop onto the covers and pressed his palms against his eyes. Flashes of white mingled on his eyelids with images of glinting steel and blood.

So much for a peaceful night, he thought numbly.

He shouldn't be bothered by it, really. That was what all the training was for, the codes of conduct that shinobi had to follow, the meditation techniques they had developed. It should have been easy to shake all that, all he had _seen_ and_ done_, off like water.

Why didn't it work?

He rubbed his face harshly; it _had_ to work. Others managed it as well so why shouldn't he be able to do it.

Frustrated, the young Chuunin got out of his bed and quietly slipped the paper screen open. He tiptoed across the wooden verandah and seated himself at the edge of it, determined to reason out his emotions and to find some calm.

As he let the clucking sound of the shishi odoshi be his guide into meditation, he didn't notice that the carefully monotonous snoring had stopped when he left the room.

The mercury eyed gaze on his back never wavered until the blond ninja nodded off to sleep a long while later.

* * *

Naruto came back to awareness to a slightly painful crick in the neck, the sound of chirping birds and quiet, melodic humming to his left. Groggily, he forced his eyes open and blinked rapidly against the brightness of an early morning. A small chuckle drew his attention to the blue haired woman at his side who was sitting a few feet away slouching gracefully against a support beam.

"S-sensei?", he asked in a sleepy slur, "What're you doing here?"

Matsuri smiled at him – much too brightly for the early hour – and stretched out her legs.

"I was just walking around, admiring the gardens. Imagine my surprise when I found my cute little Chuunin sleeping on the verandah floor…"

Naruto sleepily debated whether to call her out on the unlikelihood of_ her_ enjoying a conservative _garden_ of all things but decided that closing his eyes again had infinitely more merit.

A foot suddenly nudged his left arm.

He ignored it with a slight grunt.

"Naruto…"

Another nudge.

A bit of shuffling was heard and then he had something chilly, bony and definitely _toe-like_ on his cheek!

"Gaahhh, sensei!", Naruto shot up in a flash and slapped the offending appendage away, "That's _gross_!!! Stop it!"

Under his sensei's light laughter Naruto rubbed the imaginary dirt from his mistreated cheek and proceeded to stretch himself into wakefulness. After a deep breath and a hearty yawn that let tears spring into his eyes silence descended between the two.

Naruto let his eyes roam over the garden he had had no chance of clearly seeing the night before. It was rather traditional in style with a few small walkways around the artificial wilderness and a modest koi pond to the far right where the shishi odoshi was located that had helped calm him during the night.

"Ne sensei…", he began, "What are you doing out here? The sun's just come up and you only ever bother me that early for training…" He shot her a curious glance.

Matsuri had foregone her usual jovial expression en lieu of a somewhat serious and concerned one.

"I happened to be sitting over at the koi pond last night when I saw someone stumble out of their sleeping quarters", she began, not looking at her young charge.

Naruto felt a bubble of frustration rising up in him.

"That person seemed somewhat distressed. Distressed enough to not notice me even though I did nothing to conceal myself…", she trailed off with a frown.

"I…I was just…", Naruto hated stumbling over his words like that. He was supposed to be calm and collected and not panicky like last night. He was old enough to control his emotional responses; he was _good_ enough to do it! "I don't…", he pressed his lips together frustrated.

"You don't what?", Matsuri prodded softly, "If you don't find_ some_ way to let it out it will only get worse. You're not expected to be perfect. No one is."

"_He_ was." It was barely audible.

Matsuri's eyes narrowed and an unseen flash of regret passed over her face.

"So we're on _that_ topic again." Her voice was light but Naruto could detect the underlying strain in it as always when he made the mistake of mentioning this particular subject.

"I should have never let him train with you. I should have found someone else to oversee your practice during my absences."

Naruto huffed, annoyed. "I got along with him. You can't say that about a lot of other people."

Matsuri barely suppressed the unreasonably sharp edge that what trying to creep into her retort. "He left a much too lasting impression on you. Not to mention the completely wrong one. You are not _supposed_ to suppress your emotions like this. No one is!"

"Then how is it that I hardly see any shinobi worth their salt _ever_ losing their cool?!", the blond Chuunin growled, "They're not breaking up over a bit of blood! So I should learn-"

"Damn it, Naruto", Matsuri interrupted him harshly and finally turned around to face her student again, "You are _ten_, you _are_ learning! Give it time!" She paused for a second and Naruto was caught by the haunting look on her usually jovial face.

"There was a _reason_ that you were assigned an ex-ANBU as sensei", she continued only slightly calmer and still as intense," and it was _not_ to hinder your development. No Chuunin, no Jounin, no _ANBU_ manages to stay untouched by what we do however much it seems like it on the outside. As long as we stay human we feel guilt, we grieve, we _break_!"

Naruto, for once, felt very small; oppressed by the raw emotion he felt behind her clipped and clear words. He didn't dare to move for fear of interrupting her. She closed her eyes briefly. When she spoke next, her voice was much quieter.

"You are correct, though. You will never see a _'shinobi worth their salt'_ loosing it in the middle of a street; or on a mission. _Never_ on a mission, Naruto. You can cry or scream; you can train or drink yourself into oblivion. In _private_, at _home_. Don't ever let it jeopardize a mission."

She sighed softly and relaxed back into her previous slouch and the tense air around them slowly dissipated into the chilling morning air. Naruto felt his breath come easier again and only then did he notice that his sensei had released a pretty noticeable amount of killing intent during her short speech.

A dull thump had teacher and student turn around. The tousled head of Kenji could be seen as the teen awkwardly tried to rise from between his mussed up bed sheets.

"Ouch, my elbow", the boy groaned from beneath the covers.

"Sorry for waking you Kenji", Matsuri called over to him.

"'s no pr'blem", he replied sleepily as he finally untangled himself, "'m gonna wake Mai. And then we can have breakfast." He paused on his way to the door and shot Matsuri a look. "There _is_ breakfast for us, right?"

Matsuri just smiled affirmatively and waved him of.

Naruto made to stand and follow his teammate – he was really hungry after barely eating the night before- when the voice of Matsuri stopped him.

"Naruto, Uchiha Itachi is a traitor. Never forget that. Don't bring him up again if it's not necessary. I very much regret introducing you to him."

The blond said nothing. Really, there _was_ nothing to say. She was right.

His silence was interrupted though by a loud gurgle.

Matsuri started to laugh and Naruto fought and lost against an embarrassed blush.

"Get out of here shrimp", she chuckled and threw some pebbles at him, "before Kenji polishes off the whole breakfast table himself."

* * *

They stayed three more days in Takayama. While Naruto was practicing his Kenjutsu with a ninjato borrowed from Matsuri, Mai managed to persuade Aiji the chief of Outa's small personal guard to teach her using the rokushakubo. Naruto privately thought that the weapon was too unwieldy for the girl seeing as it was more than a foot taller than her.

Kenji was being coached in harnessing his lightening oriented chakra. At first Naruto as well as Mai had been skeptical, though the latter not being as obvious about it as the blond. Elemental training usually only took place when the trainee was about Chuunin rank and as rookie Genin Kenji was still far from that. But, the mercury eyed boy took to it like a fish to water. While others struggled for weeks – Naruto hated remembering the 26 days when he had tried to cut a leave with his chakra that _just wouldn't sharpen_ – Kenji managed his exercise of electrically charging a few nails within mere hours. It really kind of rankled the blond; secretly, of course. And only a little.

Naruto vaguely remembered the boy bragging about knowing several Raiton jutsu back when they had first met. This unexpected flash of brilliance certainly lent credibility to the boast. Still, the young Chuunin wondered; it _could_ be some hereditary trait, only Kenji had no known relatives and his lack of a last name didn't really support that guess. On the other hand, his teammate wasn't exactly the sharpest kunai in the pouch so it couldn't be mere genius either. _Or it could be a bit of jealousy speaking here_, a small voice in Naruto's conscience insisted timidly before it was ruthlessly smothered.

Apart from that Kenji had been unbearable. He was so smug about his achievement that it even had the usually easy going Mai growing irritated. This in turn didn't help alleviate the tensions that had been running high since the fight with the bandits.

So, needless to say, everyone was quite glad when they were on the road again, or rather in the trees again. What had taken them more than a week of painstaking hiking on dust covered trails, was now a matter of barely two days. Naruto knew that the distance could be travelled even faster but Matsuri-sensei decided on a rather leisurely pace.

As the light got dimmer and the early evening approached they reached a small, gurgling stream. Matsuri left the trees and the team followed suit.

"We're going to stay here for the night", she said while brushing some errant strands of blue hair out of her eyes, "It's probably going to rain soon. We might as well get the tents up before we get drenched." She indicated towards the dark grey clouds that hung overhead ominously.

Mai looked relieved. The girl was sweaty and exhausted; her short breath puffed little white clouds in the frosty evening air. The huge bulging backpack on her shoulders seemed to drag her down. Naruto had known she was still slightly underdeveloped in terms of stamina but he kept silent. He felt vaguely bad for his teammate even though he knew it was her own fault for packing so much. Maybe he could help her sorting through her things next time _before_ she decided to take her every possession with her.

With the tents soon set up the four settled around a small fire courtesy of Naruto's liberal use of katon jutsu on the soaking wet wood. After a rather bland meal of rice with soy sauce Matsuri-sensei went off for a quick evening workout before the threatening rainclouds broke. Naruto settled back against a boulder and took out Matsuri's ANBU issued ninjato and a soft cleaning rag. It would be bad form to borrow a sword and give it back ill-cared for.

After only a few minutes he felt his skin prickle slightly. Lifting his eyes under the cover of his hair he saw Kenji watching him darkly. Naruto huffed inaudibly and lowered his gaze again. That stupid prick was still angry at him. Who did he think he was? He wouldn't let some wannabe ninja mar his almost perfect mission record because he was too thick to listen to him. The blond rubbed furiously over a patch of dirt on the sword sheath. He could still feel the silver haired boy glaring at him.

"What?!", he bit out lowly, "Do you have a problem?" His fists clenched involuntarily as a look of righteous anger fell on his Genin teammate's face.

"Yeah, I do", Kenji growled, "I've got a problem with how you left me 'n Mai to nearly die in that fight!"

The black sword sheath clanged loudly against the blade as Naruto let it go to upright himself.

"I did no such thing!", he hissed furiously. God, that boy was so _stupid_! "If you had just listened to me or taken the fight seriously-"

"What are you trying to say, bastard?! I did take it seriously", Kenji yelled and sprung to his feet.

"Oh, you did?", Naruto stood slowly and took a step towards the bigger boy, "Then why didn't you stop playing around and kill them?!"

"Boys", Mai's voice suddenly cut into the argument trying to sound resolute and failing, "don't fight, please." She looked incredibly uncomfortably, standing between them. Kenji took a large step around her. The blond Chuunin balled his fists, enraged, as the other boy invaded his personal space.

"That's not even the point!", Kenji nearly screamed, "You left us by ourselves! We could have died! Why didn't you just, I dunno, make some more of those clones to help us!? Some fucking genius you are!!!"

Naruto drew back as if slapped and let his hands fall at his sides. He didn't think of that…

A small hand on Kenji's arm had the huffing and red-faced boy back down reluctantly. Throwing the blonde a last glare he whirled around and stalked off into the trees. Mai bestowed Naruto a look wavering between pity and condemnation and went off towards her and Matsuri's tent without a word.

For a few heartbeats, Naruto heard nothing but the rushing blood in his veins and his own heart still beating angrily. A log cracking loudly in the fire ended the moment. With vaguely jittery hands and racing thoughts he sat back down and continued the cleaning of his nijato mechanically. Why hadn't he thought of something like that; or maybe spiriting the little girl away with a clone under henge or- Naruto grit his teeth in annoyance. _Anyway_, Kenji should have obeyed his command. He shouldn't have been so stupid and _not_ kill his opponents.

With a soft grating sound the sharp weapon slid into its sheath again as he commenced to search the non-reflective outside covering for hidden nicks or scratches.

And Mai was obviously on Kenji's side with this. Just great; he was really looking forwards to Konoha now. There at least he wouldn't have to see those two every day.

Dejectedly he ended his inspection of the sword and moved towards the tent he shared with his idiot-teammate. He crawled over to his bedroll and lay on his back staring into the dark. What wouldn't he give to be Matsuri's only student again…

* * *

Raised voices brought Naruto out of his light sleep. The expected rain was beating heavily onto the tent. A glimpse outside showed it to be pouring down in veritable sheets. The fire was extinguished in the deluge and the dark glow of the dying embers only faintly illuminated three figures on the far side of the small camp. Two of them were unmistakably his sensei and Kenji-baka.

Hastily pulling on his leather boots he braced the cold rain and sprinted across the slippery grass towards them.

Matsuri supported the figure of a medium-height male that was clad in standard Konoha Chuunin attire. "Good, you're awake, Naruto", she nodded to him. "Kenji, go wake Mai! Have her ready her medic supplies, we're coming over." The boy was uncharacteristically serious as he simply nodded and sped off.

The man groaned and his head lolled to the side as Matsuri adjusted her grip on him.

"What happened?", Naruto asked hurriedly while they carefully maneuvered the ninja across the campsite towards the tent.

"Kenji found him a few minutes away in the woods to the east. He was barely conscious but obviously a Konoha nin so Kenji brought him here as fast as possible."

Naruto nodded silently and held open the tent flap to allow them entrance.

"He's pretty beat up", he stated questioningly. Matsuri nodded but didn't react to the implied question.

Mai bit back a gasp as she saw the delirious figure that seeped a steady stream of blood on the bedroll. "Do you know what injuries he has?", she asked surprisingly steadfastly.

"Iie", Matsuri shook her head, "But his left shoulder is probably in a bad shape judging by the bleeding and his breathing is shallow enough for at least a few broken ribs."

The girl nodded silently and began slicing of the man's vest and crimson soaked long sleeved shirt. When the garment was finally peeled away, Naruto felt some of his blood leave his face; subdued heaving behind him informed him of the fact that Kenji was close to losing his dinner.

Matsuri grimaced as her fingers ghosted over the mangled, bloody left shoulder and the awkward shape of his upper arm. Red-blue bruising stretched down his side, over his ribs and vanished beneath the waistline of his left hip. The ribs were definitely broken, probably even piercing his left lung.

"Kenji, Naruto go and search the place where he was found for any tracks", the blue haired woman commanded roughly, "Be fast, the rain will wash away everything usable. You're only in the way here."

Naruto nodded his assent; just as he was about to slip out after Kenji Matsuri's low voice held him back. "Stay on alert, Naruto. He didn't do that to himself. Whoever got him might be trying to track him down."

"Hai, sensei."

Back outside, he squinted against the downpour that wrapped the night in a sheet of murky grey. Kenji was half leaning against a tree; his bent over position letting Naruto guess that he had lost his fight against his stomach. He slow made his way over to the teen but stopped some way behind him. It was different things that set each person off; Kenji had held strong in the face of the many dead bandits but obviously, this injured man somehow hit much closer home.

The boy straightened and looked back at Naruto, almost daring him to comment. Naruto didn't rise to the bait. This was different.

"Lead the way", he said quietly.

"Here along."

The trek through the trees was uncomfortable to say the least. Cold water trickled down Naruto's neck; it had long seeped into his clothes and Chuunin vest making it almost too heavy; his hair was plastered across his forehead and rivulets of water continuously blurred his sight. In front of him Kenji ripped his top free of where it had snagged in the braches again, not heeding the scratches he amassed with the rough pulling.

When they reached the site where Kenji had found the ninja, the boy stood back to defer to Naruto. The blond crouched down in squelching shoes.

"Keep an eye on the area, Kenji." The warning about possible enemy ninja didn't need to be voiced. The silver haired Genin took post in one of the surrounding trees while Naruto began to systematically search for hints about what had happened.

Matsuri was right to send them out fast; even now there was nearly nothing left. A few footprints in the mud that were likely to be washed away in a few minutes told him nothing new; diluted splotches of blood, nothing… Naruto's breath puffed out foggily as he sat on his haunches and wiped his hair from his face with muddied hands. Nothing… or…?!

Something blinked dully in the corner of his eyes. Quickly, he whipped his head around and squinted through the rain. Yes, there was something.

A few seconds later had him wiping away blood and mud from the barely reflective surface of what seemed to be a ripped off hitai-ate. Maybe this would give them some hints. When the sign on the metal plate came into view, Naruto's breath stilled completely.

* * *

The two boys were speeding through the trees, unheeding of the rain and the bad sight that made hopping from branch to branch a slippery undertaking. When they had come back to the tents, Matsuri had immediately split the team up. She and Mai would wait at the camp for medical help and to guard the Konoha ninja while Kenji and Naruto were to head back to the village as fast as possible to relay the information.

Kenji had let Naruto lead unquestioningly. The gravity of the situation washed away all lingering resentment between the two.

As the artificial light of Konohagakure no Sato filtered through the trees in the distance, Kenji closed the gap to Naruto in front of him.

"This… this is really serious, isn't it?", he asked subdued over his heavy breathing. "What he told us… and then the forehead protector…"

He paused. Naruto didn't say anything but increased their speed a bit more.

"That means…", he began again, "It means there's going to be… _war_."

Naruto's right hand reflexively grabbed his breast pocked where, sealed away in a scroll, was the shakily written statement of the injured Chuunin and the dirty hitai-ate that had no business being found so far inside Fire Country on a nearly mortally wounded Konoha ninja.

The unscratched sign of a stylized cloud on the metal plate made Kenji's statement frighteningly real. It would be the drop that had the barrel overflowing.

_Yes, there would be war._

_

* * *

_

(TBC)

Here was a bit more interaction within the team; I hope I'm doing decently well with the characterization of my OCs and Naruto.

I think some people misunderstood the 'arrogant' comment of Matsuri in the last chapter. It's actually a personal experience; I found out over the years that I came across as incredibly arrogant and untouchable when I was in school. Not, that I really saw myself as that or actually was, really. At least in my honest opinion, but the others were just so immature and - sorry- stupid... Besides, Naruto isn't perfect (as perhaps shown in this chapter) - neither am I, btw... - and Kenji isn't just a _dobe_, Mai has an opinion and Matsuri actually has morals to teach and a past with Naruto.

Please let me know what you think and REVIEW!

Next chapter: More missions, things are heating up. The future looks bleak but will there _really_ be a war?

Cheers ginoeh


	7. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer: Don't own...**

A/N: It's been a long time... a reeeeaaaally long time. This is kind of short-ish (mere 3.100 words) but it's actually the 5th try for this sort of chapter. I needed something to connect a few things and at the same time give me more room for Naruto and his team. I think I got everything I wanted except Kakashi. Whenever I saw him he swept by as fast and silent as death and was gone before I could get my bearings. Damn ANBU.

Anyway, some foreshadowing in this chapter!

I hope you like my view on several canon characters!

* * *

_Chapter Six  
_

_1 –Mitarashi Anko_

A thin layer of frost crunched under soft footfalls as the slight woman made her way home. The streets were empty this early in the morning – or late in the night, depending on who was asked. Burrowing deeper into her brown trench coat only the top of her spiky purple-ish hair peeked over its collar. Still, it was not enough to ward off the bitingly cold air. The grey pre-dawn light gave the usually welcoming rows of houses a flat, looming coat that was only acerbated by the shadows beyond the few lone street lamps.

Anko was in a rare pensive mood. She didn't particularly like being pensive; it opened the doorway to feeling somber and depressed and Anko liked those states of mind even less. Brash and contrary was fine; angry and spiteful could be fun; scary and devious were her daily bread – but pensive; it was usually something that send her spiraling into memories and depression and anguish and had her out of it for days until either Kurenai caught her or she got assigned a new task.

Avoiding the smelling remains of an overturned dumpster she turned into a dingy back road for a short-cut. A pair of quarrelling cats came careening past her hissing and yowling; it sounded like screaming children. Anko shuddered -_they were just toddlers! Screamingbleedingdying – monstrous deformations, unnatural_ – and pulled her coat another tiny bit closer. It was just cold; she didn't like children.

Sticking her hands more firmly beneath her armpits a scowl made its way across her face as she thought about the reason for her unwelcome mood. Yamanaka Inoichi had visited Ibiki in the late hours of the last evening. _The_ Yamanaka Inoichi – the best interrogator Konoha had had for over two generations; the same one who had retired five years ago; urban legend had it he had dressed down the hokage to make a point that he would _not_ consider coming back for anything short of the imminent destruction of the village.

So of course, it had the entire T&I buzzing with uneasy rumours when the interrogator was spotted walking down the corridors of the headquarters looking as implacable and businesslike as ever. Anko remembered nearly chocking on her dango stick when the manhad swept past the "lounge". Shortly after, five full ANBU teams and two teams of hunters were deployed.

Before she could make heads or tails of the situation (or could go bother Ibiki about it) a missive arrived asking her to show a team of six nerds from the intel and coding department around the achieves for files on former prisoners that had even the smallest suspected affiliation with Kumo. It warned her to be thorough and to supervise and double check everything the nerds wrote down.

The rookie who had brought her the news (and the coded message with the subject of the search – T&I wouldn't _ever_ trust a rookie with _any_ information) had probably been afraid for his life; after all, Anko Mitarashi didn't do paper work. At all. Ibiki knew this and she had made sure everyone else did as well.

This was the moment when Anko knew for sure that something serious was up and Yamanaka-sama wasn't there for a social call after all. Of course, Konoha had been on bad footing with Kumogakure since the incident with the Hyuuga girl. The always aggressive Raikage had successively tried to expand his region of interest and more often than not there were smaller scuffles of Konoha and Kumo ninja in Yu no Kuni that shared borders on Hi no Kuni's north-eastern side.

So far there hadn't been any reason for such a high-strung response. What had changed?

Unease knotted Anko's stomach that wouldn't leave her alone. It was hard to disregard the tension that had started to seep through the headquarters. She wondered if the Jounin had noticed already that unpleasant things were happening; maybe she'd go see Kurenai for a stick or five of dango later in the day.

Trudging up the run-down staircase to her apartment Anko had to suppress a deep yawn. Paperwork always made her feel washed out, headachy and irritable. She was rubbing one icy hand over her itching eyes while fishing for her key with the other when her feet got caught on something heavy. With an ungraceful stumble and flailing arms – wasn't she supposed to be a ninja? – she caught herself and barley managed to not land on the grey haired bundle that was half sprawled across the corridor.

"Ungh..!", it grunted and blinked blearily up at her.

"The fuck? Kenji-baka, what are you doing here?"

Kenji grimaced and stiffly pulled himself up the wall. "S-sorry Anko", he mumbled with chattering teeth, "I guess I fell asleep…"

A concerned frown flittered over Anko's face so fast it was barely noticeable.

"So you wanna tell me that you've been here loitering for what; the whole night? My flat's not a homeless shelter, you dolt!"

Kenji didn't answer. In fact, he didn't react at all save for a small shudder. Anko would have liked nothing better than to rant at him but that wouldn't help the fact that the idiot boy was probably close to hypothermia. Instead she heaved an exasperated (and exaggerated) sigh, opened the door and shoved him placidly into her crammed two-room apartment.

She didn't miss – _but ignored; nothing worth noticing_ - the small flinch when she touched him.

Leaving the shivering boy to sit on her run-down couch the kunoichi busied herself making a pot of tea.

"Hey, Anko-san", Kenji timidly interrupted her thoughts, " Have you ever fought against ninja from Kumogakure?"

Anko's hands stilled imperceptibly before she continued to pour hot water into the pot.

"Aa", she murmured quietly and nodded.

Dread knotted her stomach – _clashing metal, screaming rage, steel slidingcuttingtearing through tissue, redredred_– and she shook her head slightly to get rid of - no, there were no memories! - the hair that had fallen into her eyes.

She decided to go see Kurenai for a stick or five of dango later in the day.

* * *

_2 –Yamanaka Inoichi_

The scissors snapped unhurriedly along the tangled green vines that grew along the greenhouse corners and up to the roof in graceful arches and loops. Red, yellow and green berries adorned the stems and were added to the small twigs that were already lying in a basket.

The blond haired man sidestepped a dense patch of vibrant caladium and reached past a fully grown bush of belladonna to snip off more of the nightshade's vines.

The bittersweet was probably the least dangerous plant in his immediate vicinity right now.

Nonetheless, Inoichi was covered from head to toe in white overalls. A breather that resembled a surgical mask covered his mouth and nose and wide goggles shielded his eyes. His hands were wrapped in thick rubber gloves and even his hair and feet were covered completely.

Doll's eyes, hemlock and thorn apple grew within this poisonous retreat as well as yellow jessamine, giant hogweed and even one young manchineel tree – a very recent addition to his deadly cabinet.

Some were fatal by ingestion, some by touch or breathing their pollen and some were potent enough to poison water reservoirs and rivers by merely placing their leaves in the fluid.

Inoichi hummed lightly; working here among his plants let him relax. The winter sun sparkled through the clean glass panels and the old but trusty water heating system beneath the floor warmed the air to a comfortable temperature.

He was alone; he didn't need any weapons here; needn't censor his words because there was no one to talk to, no one to interrogate. No one was here who's mind he could unknowingly bend.

It still scared him, when he remembered that one day more than five years ago; the look on his late wife's face when she noticed what was happening; his daughter's blue, blue eyes, so innocent and trusting; believing his every word; believing she'd done right.

Psychology and interrogation; the disassembling of the human mind; to twist it and remake it into something new – the village had demanded he be proficient at it and he became the best they had. He hadn't noticed how ingrained in his everyday personality it had become. Not for a long time.

" _I heard you have a new friend, Ino-chan"_

_A beaming smile. "I wanted to have one. A girl-friend. Not like tha' lazy Shikamaru." _

_His wife's tinkling laughter rang through the room. _

"_I saw her and I liked her hair. It's pink." The grave wisdom of a four-year-old swung in her words. "Then I made it so she likes me too!"_

Inoichi taught by example. What an impressive influence must he have had on his daughter to have twisted her so out of shape before her fifth birthday.

"_I made it so she likes me too!"_

The scissors came to rest at his side. Ino was intelligent, he had never questioned that. Not even before … before Sakura. After, he knew that she could be one of those child soldiers; one of those Kakashis and Itachis that Konoha was so proud of producing (he didn't want to think of the _other_ child soldier – merely a year older than his little girl).

Ino was nine and he had slacked in training her. There was no need in peaceful times. Inoichi was unsure if she even remembered the origins of her friendship with Sakura any more. He hoped she didn't.

Carefully, Inoichi repotted two colorful flowers into two small violet cachepots. Trying not to think about the true reason he had shut himself into his poison garden he rather contemplated the first Yamanaka clan-technique his uncle had taught him something like thirty years ago. The mind-body switch would be a useful thing for Ino to know when she graduated.

A dull thump interrupted him and made him look up. Pouting lips were pressed flat against the glass panes of the greenhouse, a tongue followed and blue, pupil-less eyes were crossed in a grimace while small fists pounded on the pane. Inoichi smiled under the mask and stood up.

"Ne, daddy!", the monster on the glass pane shouted, "Shika told me that his dad told him to tell me to tell you that he's waiting at the Yaku… Yaksu… Ya-su-ku-ni shrine at 1500. Shika's dad, I mean. It's 1430 right now!"

"I'll be right out, Ino-chan!", Inoichi responded.

"Da-ad! I'm no one's -chan! I'm nine!"

Having succeeded in riling up his daughter, he retreated to the decontamination area and changed out of his protective gear.

Ino was waiting for him outside in the frigid sunshine. Kicking up dirt with her shoes and crossing her arms resolutely she gave him the evil eye. "Took you long enough, daddy", she pouted. "You promised to get me from the Academy today…"

Ah, yes. He had forgotten about that…

"Well, this is why I have a present for you, Ino-_chan_." For good measure he pulled slightly on her pigtail.

"Dadyyyyyy, stop being mean!" Ino's mouth was still downturned but Inoichi could see the curiosity winning over the glare in her eyes.

Slightly smiling he brought the two vibrant plants out from behind his back (He ignored that cold part of his consciousness that reminded him that he was such a manipulating liar).

"Wow, they're beautiful", his daughter whispered in awe and reached to touch them before stopping suddenly. "You just brought them out with you, didn't you?", she asked cautiously and Inoichi didn't know whether to be proud or sad that Ino didn't lose her head over beauty and enthusiasm.

"I did", he anwered instead. "They are a desert rose and a daphne. Both are poisonous and can be deadly."

Ino nodded earnestly and looked up at him with serious, blue eyes. "You'll teach me then", she stated and eagerness shone brightly on her young face.

"Aa. I'll teach you, Ino."

Taking the plants from him carefully, she walked away with a slight spring in her step.

"See you later, dad!"

Slowly, Inoichi made his way to the shrine of the fallen warriors.

Ino was nine and now there seemed to be a war on the horizon and there was no time for him to slack in training her any more. She would do well, he knew.

"Troublesome", he borrowed his oldest friend's favorite expression and a fond smile flitted over his face.

* * *

_3 - Utatane Koharu _

The office was brightly illuminated.

Now, the average citizen that liked to read their detective stories would likely expect the room to be swathed in shadows and flickering lights that crept along the walls and concealed much more than they illuminated.

Koharu felt a small bubble of unsuited amusement rise as she imagined herself starring as a conspirator in a cheesy political drama.

To be quite honest, she did like reading such books. They made her feel lighthearted in the knowledge that their dramatic plots would never work out in reality.

Real conspirators met in rooms without shadows. Without shadows there could be no spies.

Not that there was much of a conspiracy going on at the moment. She had been tangled up in much worse and much more condemning positions as the one she was in now.

"Well, I do agree with Hiruzen on this", Koharu started when her companion made no move to speak "He seems surprisingly adamant in his approach."

Her longtime friend pushed up his glasses and let himself sink into one of the chairs in front of the heavy oak desk in his office.

"Indeed", he murmured staring into the distance. "We have been at the verge of war with Kumo for a depressingly long time now. I would assume that he has grown as tired of the games as we have."

"He was very fast in recalling young Inoichi to duty, Homura. A few years ago, he would have balked at the idea of forcing a partly unwilling shinobi back into his ranks. It makes one wonder about his students…"

"Ah. Jiraya's frogs have made an appearance unusually often for quite some time now", her former teammate paused and a frown marred his face. "There was never a question of Jiraya's willingness to serve, everything considered; but her, the last Senju… what a shame."

"We will need at least him", Koharu agreed quietly. "And the old monkey seems to be willing to use all his resources in the face of this blatant act of war."

She remembered Sarutobi's grave face when he had handed them the dirty hitae-ate. There had been steel in his voice when he informed them of the actions he had already taken (And there was no hesitation in his old eyes, no weariness; only resolve and a hint of regret). ANBU were deployed to Yu no Kuni's border; Hunters were send out; an ANBU retrieval squad had been given a priority one order to secure the teammates of the two ninja that had brought in the news and had already come back confirming the grim report.

Indeed, she mused, Hiruzen had acted very fast. They – her and Himura– had only been informed after everything had been organized. In these days, such a thing was very unlike the old Hokage. Maybe there was more left of the Shinobi no Kami than they had realized.

By now, nearly two days later, Konoha was already teeming with rumors. Those too young to have fought in the previous wars were anxious over illusions of heroism and death; those that were born and made as shinobi in the Third War had their barely scabbed over wounds ripped open again and were desperate to hide their hurt by appearing relaxed and laid-back; those older ones that had survived and fought in more than one war were quietly accepting but could be seen visiting family and graveyards, making their peace.

Koharu was familiar with the high strung tension in the village and suddenly felt every bone in her body ache. Resentment welled up in her like acid bile when she thought about the foolish Kumo ninja and their aggressive Kage. She did not want to see another war (but that was a thought she ruthlessly suppressed as uselessly maudlin). Konoha was threatened and they would respond accordingly.

An unexpected snort interrupted her dark musings.

"Wouldn't you have liked to see Shimura's face when Hiruzen broke the news", Homura's usually tight expression relaxed nearly unnoticeably; "He always did like to surprise his old rival."

Memories played across her mind's eye of the one-upmanship Hiruzen and Danzo used to fight back when they were still Team Hokage (and much, much later, too, if she was honest).

"Well, I should think they'd not have greatly differing opinions this time, at least," she answered and allowed a tiny smile on her face. Whenever Hiruzen and Danzo decided to work together they made a terrifyingly effective team. Koharu felt her smile grow wider.

Homura's glasses glinted ominously and his strong jaw displayed an uncharacteristically pronounced grin. "Kumogakure will learn to fear us again."

* * *

_The present_

Team Matsuri had gathered in front of the large gate leading westwards out of Konoha. They made for a rather sorry sight; Mai was fretfully biting her nails looking nervous and slightly frightened, Kenji was yawning every five seconds and the deep shadows under his eyes suggested that he hadn't slept well for a while and Naruto found himself scowling at both of them. He was trying to ignore the way his heart rate would speed up slightly at the thought of leaving the village (and wasn't that terribly unbecoming of a ninja?).

It had been a tense few days and he could now appreciate why Genin were generally kept out of the loop of important business. Just the thought of hundreds of anxious kids running around and adding to the tension was making his skin crawl.

He conveniently ignored that he was younger that most Genin.

The mission they had been assigned was a standard one. Ito Daichi, the mayor of an old port town connecting Hi no Kuni to the former Uzushiogakure, had reported several incidents with bandits. Some of the few merchants coming to his village Ishinomaki had been robbed and several fishermen had gone missing over the previous month.

The mission requested them to find out what happened to the fishermen and rescue them in case they were alive and to permanently deal with the bandits.

All in all, it was a normal C-rank.

Naruto really hoped that Matsuri-sensei would be able to dispel the lingering tension a little bit.

A few minutes later the blue haired woman arrived in a shower of leaves and – strangely enough – water droplets.

"Yosh! Let's depart my dear little students!"

* * *

_(TBC)_

I hope it wasn't too disjointed. I was really anxious to finally post a new chapter and was afraid I'd just delete it again if I read over it one too many times...

BTW, thank you for your kind reviews, everyone!

Next chapter: Will the team get along for this C-rank? And what is bugging Matsuri-sensei about Uzushiogakure? Stay tuned!

Cheers, ginoeh


	8. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer: It's still not mine!**

**A/N: **For everyone who noticed: Uzushiogakure is of course to the east of Konoha, not to the west. I'm sorry!

... I think there were other things I wanted to say but my head feels empty right now... go figure...

Enjoy and maybe Review!

* * *

_Chapter Seven_

The wintery sun illuminated a rural landscape that was dominated by cultivated fields. They lay fallow now during the cold months. Brown earth was interspersed with low shrubbery and little groves of trees. The only sounds were the cawing of birds and the distant crashing of waves.

Matsuri beckoned the team to slow down when they neared the top of a hill and Naruto fell in step with his sensei. Travel had gone smoothly and although the once well kept paved street – the main merchant route from Konohagakure to Uzushiogakure – was now mostly a broad dirt path they had made it in good time.

So far, they had seen neither hide nor hair of any bandits. But then again, neither had there been any merchants so it was expected.

Cresting the hilltop they were nearing was a round, slightly stocky building with a caved in roof. One of the walls seemed to be missing completely and overgrown, mossy rubble was strewn from the site of the ruin halfway down the hill.

"Looks like an old outpost", Kenji remarked and kicked at one of the smaller stones.

"It was", the lithe Jounin acknowledged, "It's one of many that can be found around here. Most of them are deserted or destroyed now."

"Did they belong to Konoha?", Mai asked curiously, "But why wouldn't we guard this part of our borders?"

Matsuri-sensei nodded approvingly towards the brown-haired girl. "Those that are further to the north are manned by Chuunin patrols and Konoha actually does have teams patrolling the coastline from here southwards."

Putting her hand on the red spiral on the shoulder of her navy blue uniform top she looked at the dilapidated tower. "This is what is left of Uzushiogakure, the partner village of Konoha. Off the coast there is an archipelago that was home to their clans. One of them, the Uzumaki clan married into the Senju clan. They started an alliance that held until the start of the Third Shinobi World War when Uzushiogakure was razed to the ground. We once trusted them to hold our borders to Mizu no Kuni here. "

Naruto only listened with one ear. He had reached the top of the small hill and let his eyes sweep across the low shore. Glistening in the sun were the roofs of Ishinomaki that sprawled across a long bay and a bit further towards them. The sea's smooth reflective surface was dotted with small boats but it was noticeable that they did not seem to move out of the bay itself. Off in the distance a good observer could guess the dark shape of an island – former Uzushio.

He remembered Ishinomaki well. They had moved here when he was five and had stayed until Kushina decided it was time to leave for Konoha. Naruto hadn't understood at that time why his mother kept dyeing her hair blond as she hadn't bothered to do so before. Of course, now it was rather obvious. Uzumaki were known for their bright red hair and his mother was nothing if not the spitting image of the main line Uzumaki, Senju Mito. And that was a well remembered woman. Despite what many records said a lot of the inhabitants of Uzushiogakure settled in Ishinomaki in the years following the end of the Third Shinobi War.

Despite being a shy kid and discouraged from making strong friendships by his mother Naruto had enjoyed living in the small but colourful village. If he had to decide now, however, he would have to say that it probably was a singularly stupid idea for the two of them to have come here. Naruto couldn't fathom the fact that his mother took on the risk of discovery for such a small piece of a destroyed home [1].

His team had by now nearly caught up with him. Naruto turned around and had only a split-second to react when from the shadows next to the tower a war cry sounded. His fingers moved lightening fast as he let go of the half drawn kunai and took half a step back to evade the fierce attack. It was for naught.

Three fearsome warriors banding about long sticks and one too large bokken converged on him – they were merely a few inches smaller than him and were quite merciless with their weapons.

"Hey! Ouch!" Naruto stumbled back gracelessly and held off one boy by grabbing his 'sword'. "What are you-"

"Waaaahhhhh! Die you scum!", a tall brown-haired one screamed and whacked Naruto on his elbow with his club.

"Itaaaaiiiii – you little devil", Naruto ground out, feeling more bemused than annoyed. A few feet away, Kenji was nearly rolling on the floor with laughter. Mai was keeping her mouth covered with her hands but her shoulders were shaking traitorously.

"Ey! What happened to teamwork", he called over trying to get back his footing. Kenji's roaring laughter was his only answer.

Oh well. He narrowed his eyes and in two fast movements divested the blond with the bokken of his weapon. The boy stumbled back to his comrades.

"Get him, my ninja", he cried, "Down with the bandit scum!"

Naruto felt a grin sneaking onto his face. "I will not be defeated by the likes of you", he answered theatrically and took an overly artful en guard position. The two 'minions' rushed at him, intent on striking with their 'swords' only to forget that they were running next to each other. Stumbling over their sticks and own limbs they came to a rolling stop at Naruto's feet.

"Well", Naruto drawled, barely containing a snicker, "that was not very impressive for Konoha ninja." He bent down and poked at one arm with his bokken.

"Ouch", the brown-haired kid moaned and looked up at him through a too-long fringe, "What'cha do that for!?"

His red-haired companion scowled at Naruto and pushed his tall friend off. "We're no Konoha ninja! Were from Uzushio! See?!" He swept his messy hair out of his face.

"I am totally sorry, then", Naruto said in a flat voice at the shaky spiral that was drawn on the kid's forehead with coal. The black soot was also smeared across the rest of his face.

"Ne, bandit-san", the blond leader jogged over and kept a respectful distance to the Chuunin, "You're no _real_ bandit, are you?"

"If I was you'd have a problem now because there are three others with me…", Naruto answered with a raised brow and fought the urge to let his face meet his palms. Instead he just snorted incredulously.

The three seemed to mull that over for a bit until the lanky one pointed one finger ostentatiously at Naruto. "You could be a kidnapper! And you just kidnapped the beautiful daughter of a rich lord and are tryin' to … to … to get money for her! Yeah!" He nodded to himself and flashed a grin towards Mai. "Don'cha be afraid! We'll save you!"

The poor girl had tears streaming down her face by now. "D-don't bother yourself…", she wheezed before dissolving into laughter.

Thankfully, Matsuri-sensei made her timely appearance before the situation could escalate further. "Good going kids", she grinned at the three scruffy boys that were facing the beautiful women with contrite looks on their faces. They had conveniently forgotten that they were in a battle with a deadly bandit. "It's been some time since somebody got Naruto-chan here to act his age."

"I'm ten", Naruto muttered slightly scowling, "I'm sure they're younger…" Why did Matsuri-sensei always harp on his age?

"Well, they aren't that much shorter than you", Mai quipped dryly from his left.

"That's no real achievement, though", Kenji jeered as he dusted himself of, "shorty-ninja!"

"Dobe!"

"Shorty!"

"Boys!" Matsuri shouted, "Quiet! I'm talking with our Uzushio-nin here! You're endangering diplomatic connections!"

Kenji blinked and shot Naruto a confused look. "Don't you think she's taking this a bit far now…?"

Here, Naruto's face did find its way into his hands.

Mai couldn't stop giggling.

It didn't take them much longer to reach Ishinomaki. The three boys had introduced themselves as Taro, Ryota and their leader Katsutoshi. The blond boy turned out to be the nephew of Ito-san, the elderly village leader that had asked for Konoha's assistance. The three eight-years-olds went to school together and had decided to skip their math lessons in favour of playing ninja.

The street leading them into the center of the town was lined with old cherry trees that stretched their bare arms into the blue winter sky.

"Those trees must be beautiful in spring", Mai said awed. Naruto grimaced slightly and waited for one of the three boys to answer to the unasked question.

It was Katsutoshi who was walking next to her that answered with an unhappy look on his face.

"I haven't seen them bloom, ever", the blond boy said sadly and shrugged, "People say that they were planted on this street the day when the alliance between Konoha and Uzushio was made. It's supposed to have been really awesome to see them blooming and there were lots of visitors from all over Hi no Kuni each spring. Some of our parents remember it."

Mai looked skeptically at the trees. "So, are they ill? Why aren't they replaced then?"

Ryota, the red-head, scowled at her. "The trees symbolize the beauty of friendship and the sturdiness of the alliance. As long as they stand, Uzushio lives! We can't just replace them!"

"You sooo ripped that off Hiyori-sensei's speech…", Taro muttered with an eye-roll.

"Yeah, _you'd_ know that, teacher's pet", Ryota snapped back, "It's not like _you_-"

"Eee, stuff it, you two!" There was no real heat in Katsutoshi's demand. "They're always fighting", he huffed, "It's so annoying!"

Mai gave him a commiserating look. "You tell me", she mumbled and shot Naruto and Kenji a not-so-subtle glance.

Naruto refrained from reacting. It wasn't like he was the one who didn't have his emotions in check, after all.

They reached the end of the dead alley and Naruto gave the trees one last uncomfortable glance. He had never liked them. When he had lived here with his mother this street used to feature a lot in his nightmares.

The three boys lead them through the twisting streets towards the waterside, passing several moderately sized administration buildings in the process. There weren't many people about. Were the villagers that afraid of those bandits?

"And where, exactly, are you bringing us, Katsutoshi?", Matsuri asked with a slight frown on her face when the houses became more residential.

The blond pulled up his shoulders a bit. "My uncle is ill. He's staying at home at the moment. He left a message for you with his secretary at the office but I found you first, so… "

"Oy, Katsu, I'm gonna go back to school now", Taro interrupted suddenly. He looked uncomfortable and kept shooting glances around him." I can still make it to afternoon classes then."

Ryota scoffed at the brown haired boy. "Scaredy cat", he muttered quietly. Apart from balling his fists Taro didn't react to the read-head. "See ya tomorrow. Bye ninja-san!" He gave a short wave and turned back in a light run.

Katsutoshi looked unhappily at Ryota. "Can't you stop messing with him? He lives two streets over and could easily be busted. You _know_ how his parents are; especially with the grades he pulls…"

"He's got no business complaining…", Ryota murmured and kicked at the ground. "Anyway, I'm off. This is boring here." With a roll of his eyes he walked off.

"Sorry 'bout that", Katsutoshi sighed.

They continued their walk towards the richer part of the village.

"They don't like each other much, do they?", Mai queried. She was still ambling next to the blond boy.

Katsutoshi shrugged uncomfortably.

"Taro's got strict parents. They're well off and want Taro to go into the family business. He's not that bright, though, really."

He noticed Mai's look.

"What?!", he defended, "it's true! And Ryota's angry because Taro complains and complains when he's got nearly everything and Ryota got nothing with his mom dead and sister ill and his dad missing!" The boy paused a second. "I can understand Ryota, really. But he doesn't have to be so _mean_ about it…"

Naruto had nearly discarded the rant of the boy until he picked up on the line that Ryota's father was missing.

"So, Ryota's father is one of the fishermen that disappeared?"

Katsutoshi nodded glumly. "You _have_ to find them", he implored, "Ryota's not managing _at all_!" He looked fearfully at Naruto. "He mentioned yesterday that he wants to go looking himself. _Please_!"

So there was some seriousness to the game the three boys had played.

Matsuri-sensei ruffled the boy's hair lightly. "We'll do our best, Katsutoshi, don't worry."

The blond looked only marginally reassured and was very quiet the rest of the way.

It was a small, balding man with a terrible cough and a red nose that greeted the four ninja when they reached Katsutoshi's home. He took one look at his wayward nephew, shook his head in amused exasperation and shooed the boy off. "There's a lot of left-over food in the pantry", he wheezed after him, "take that, will you?"

"Do you usually condone skipping classes?", Matsuri-sensei asked with a raised brow.

Ito-dono waved her off. "He's keeping Ryota-kun company. The Sage knows, that boy needs some moral support right now. And some more food…" He trailed off in a cough.

"Anyway", he went on and pulled out an enormous tissue to wipe his face, "I'm glad you came so promptly, ninja-san. Please follow me to my study."

The study was a comparatively large room with a sturdy desk to its left side. Wooden shelves storing an assortment of scrolls and books covered the walls while one side of the room was made up of a window front that overlooked the bay beneath them.

Kenji plopped gracelessly in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Mai cuffed him slightly for the impoliteness he displayed. Naruto slowly ambled towards the windows. It was a really nice view, he decided. The water sparkled invitingly.

The slightly plump Ito-dono sat in his chair and the serious expression on his face made Naruto alert again.

"Before giving you any details on the disappearances that were mentioned in the mission I need to tell you of a new development."

Matsuri-sensei straightened in her chair and Naruto took a few steps towards his team. New developments were not good. Definitely not, if they were spoken about in such a grave tone of voice. He regarded the man warily as he pulled three folders out of a large pile of papers and pushed them over to Matsuri-sensei.

The Jounin opened them and Naruto immediately saw her back become rigid. Chancing a look over her shoulder he was met with pictures of three young women. They were most likely private shots; one of the three – a maybe eighteen year-old – was blowing a kiss towards the camera, her black hair splayed messily over her face in a strong wind. The second one was of a beautiful brunette sitting in a field of flowers.

He fought the urge to reach for the third picture.

"They're missing as well?", Matsuri asked. Nothing in her voice betrayed the worry that Naruto was pretty sure she had to be feeling. The girl on the last picture couldn't be any older than Mai.

Ito-dono nodded somberly. "There is another reported missing just yesterday evening. I don't have anything on him yet." The man's eyes fastened on the tabletop as his hands wrung his tissue. "It is a boy", he explained clearly, "He is ten years old and didn't come back for dinner last night."

Naruto had an oddly sour taste in his mouth. He was sure that, just like the three girls, the boy was probably rather beautiful.

Ito-dono meanwhile gave up observing his tabletop and instead he looked at Matsuri-sensei intently. He was communicating silently what neither of them wanted to say. This was bad business. Maybe the worst kind.

"We'd be amenable to pay more, if you require it", he said quietly. "The men and I are aware that this is might be above what we commissioned."

Out of the corner of his eyes Naruto noticed Kenji's mystified face, his questions only held back by Mai's hand on his mouth. The girl looked a mixture of confused and horrified. If he'd have to guess he'd say that Mai was already on the right track.

"We'll see", Matsuri-sensei answered in a perfectly calm voice. "We will do the scouting and information gathering first and decide from there."

Ito-dono held her gaze and what he saw there must have appealed to his sense as a leader. He nodded once decisively and squared his shoulders.

"Let me give you the details then."

* * *

[1] Kushina did live in Uzushio before she had to leave "at a young age" (naruto . wikia) and was enrolled in the academy in Konoha. So I'd guess she was in Uzushio for something like 6 years at most. She seems to be the same age as Minato who was "not yet 30" when he made Hokage meaning she was, at most, 30 when she gave birth to Naruto. Giving this a leeway of five years and adding Naruto's age at the time of the move to Ishinomaki, means she is at least 30 at most 35 when they move there. After so long, a home is usually not much of one any longer; especially, if it was destroyed anyway.

(Anyway, that's my take on the timeline...)

* * *

_(TBC)_

You might be glad to know that the next chapter is actually 80% written already...

As always, this is non-betaed and I didn't bother to re-read it _again_ (like the 15th time).

Next chapter: What are those bandits up to? Maybe there is something more hiding in the waters of Uzushio... Stay tuned!

Cheers, ginoeh


	9. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer: Just playing...**

**A/N:** Nothing much to say; except that there's still no action here. Then again, this mission arc still spans several chapters more.

Enjoy!

* * *

_Chapter Eight_

It was already dark outside when the four of them were finally holed up in the inn they would be staying at.

The news Ito-dono had given them left them feeling ill at ease.

While it wasn't exactly nice business if some merchants got robbed or several fishermen disappeared it was well within the expected modus operandi of a group of bandits. The fact that the village now missed three young women - one of them barely into adolescence - and a ten year old boy, hinted towards something more sinister.

Naruto wasn't sure whether Kenji had picked up on the unspoken implication but he was pretty sure that Mai knew what everyone refused to name. The brown-haired girl was paler than usually and kept unconsciously fiddling with her top. Naruto knew that things like seduction missions had been touched upon in the most general of forms during the kunoichi-only classes at the academy.

It seemed, though, that Mai had connected the dots towards the darker side of the practice with the new information now available as fast as he had.

"Soooo", Kenji hedged when they had gathered in the girls' room around the low table, "I think I'm missing something. What's happened that has everyone so tense?"

Mai chanced a quick look at the boy before turning her eyes back to the table. An uncomfortable silence blanketed them for several moments.

Naruto fought the urge to fidget. He was aware that human traders still operated under the law enforcements' radar and that not all prostitutes were so by choice or due to an unlucky decision. He had once even ran afoul an operation concerning such traders and saw some of the women and the states they were in, back when Itachi was — He abandoned that train of thought.

He knew intellectually that such violence could have further reaching effects than any wound. Still, he couldn't imagine or understand. He never dared to ask Matsuri-sensei about the topic and she never volunteered.

The Jounin heaved a small sigh. If Naruto hadn't known her for four years now he wouldn't have seen that her relaxed posture seemed slightly forced. This obviously was not something she wanted her team to have to deal with yet.

"So far we assumed that we are dealing a small group of normal bandits that are mainly interested in making profit and keeping their hideout secret; they robbed some merchants and got rid of those that might have found them. We expected them to either force the missing villagers to work for them, use them as hostage against the people of Ishinomaki or even to outright kill them."

"Then what's so different now?", Kenji interrupted, "Okay, they have more hostages and even a child. So what?!"

"Kenji…",Matsuri hesitated slightly, "Small groups of bandits don't normally go out of their way to capture young women and children. Consider what Ito-dono said; they were all within the confines of the city. We assume that there is another… purpose behind this." Her voice got colder. "They might be sold to different clubs or even private individuals for pleasure."

"Wha…"It visibly took Kenji a moment to wrap his head around what Matsuri had said. Then he turned his eyes to her, horrified. "And the boy?", he whispered.

"The same." Her eyes were slightly hooded. She glanced at Naruto for a mere second, an intense expression behind her gaze that he couldn't decipher. Naruto felt vaguely unsettled.

"So this means they might have connections to someone who they can sell them to?",he asked matter-of-factly in an effort to change the stifling mood into something more business-like.

The tense silence vanished.

"Yes, that's a possibility we have to think about before planning anything", Matsuri allowed. "But let's start at the beginning. Concerning thehideout of the group, I got an accurate map of the area fromIto-dono." She took an accurately folded piece of thick paper out of her supply pouch and spread the map on the table.

Naruto leaned in; the map was on its head from the position he was sitting but he could easily recognize the coast line and Ishinomaki on his right side. The map covered a stretch of 150 by 150 miles and went into enough cartographic detail to even show the large amount of small islands that dotted the ocean further out. The eastern-most of them already belonged to former Uzushiogakure.

"Let's start by adding the routes the missing fishermen had intended to take. If we take into account all information we have about the incidences we should be able to roughly localize their camp."

In the end, they came to the conclusion that the group of bandits had most likely set up anywhere between 10 to 15 miles north of the village. The coastline there was rough with only a few small bays that allowed for easy access to the water. It was uninhabited and far enough removed from both the main roads and the tree paths of the Konoha patrols further north. Considering possible ranges of vision from the oceanit was the only stretch of land that could have been seen from all fisher boats.

It also meantthat the group had boats themselves to intercept the fishermen and that lend to the question if there were even more of them hiding on the many islands.

"Yeah, we really have our work cut out for us", Naruto sighed. It was rather disheartening; there was no way they could search all those islands.

Kenji looked despondently at the map. "But we're gonna start with scouting the camp on the main land, right sensei? Maybe they even have the missing people there…"

"That would be a good first step. What do you suggest if they are not there?"

"We could infiltrate the base to see where they brought them!" Kenji had stars in his eyes for a second. "This is gonna be a real undercover mission!" He pumped his fist in the air as if waiting for the rest of the team to join his enthusiasm.

Mai and Naruto exchanged an exasperated look.

"Umm… and _how _do you think three _children_ can infiltrate a camp of grown-up bandits?", the girl ventured. The sarcasm was hard to miss.

Naruto _could_ spontaneously think of a way.

It was not one he would like to go.

Matsuri-sensei seemed to have the same idea. "We are _not_ doing an undercover _anything_ here. Doing that in a suspected human trade ring is _way_ above your paygrade, Kenji."

The boy visibly deflated. "And with a henge?"

"No."

"But-"

"No." Matsuri knocked slightly on his head when he opened his mouth argue further. "Think of something else."

Kenji harrumphed and crossed his arms defiantly. "It was a good idea", he muttered quietly.

"We can start like Kenji suggested, actually", Mai placated the pouting boy. Instantly Kenji perked up. Mai gave him a small smile. "We scout out the main camp to see how many of them there are and if they have the missing people. If yes, we'll work out how to free them. If not, we try to check their supply lines for any clues."

"They could have brought them to any of the islands further out", Matsuri-sensei cautioned, her chin supported on her hands and seemingly content to let them work it out.

"I suppose", Mai frowned.

"Then we check their routes on the main land first", Kenji added to the discussion. "We're ninja, they're civilians. We can probably follow them without them noticing. As long as they don't cross the borders to Yu no Kuni we're save."

"You know", Naruto started slowly, not lifting his eyes from the map, "considering the situation with Kumo it's unlikely that they would go close to the border. Haven't we shored up the patrols there?"

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Matsuri give a slight nod.

"Anyway, wasn't our main objective to get rid of the bandits and rescue the hostages only if possible? It'll be tricky to eliminate them if they have connections either on land or on the islands, depending how frequent they are in contact."

"You can't just leave the hostages to their fate, Naruto!", Mai exclaimed aghast.

"I'm not saying that", Naruto defended himself. Why did they always imply that he didn't care if people died? "It's just, we can't follow some trail for days or even weeks when at the same time even _more_ people could be abducted! We don't have a time limit on the mission itself but I'd say if we don't find a promising lead to the hostages within a week we should probably eliminate the bandits, regardless."

Before the discussion could get heated Matsuri intervened. "Okay brats, we'll start as Mai and Kenji suggested first thing tomorrow morning. Let's hope we find the hostages but Naruto is right; the time frame _is_ something we have to keep in mind."

She gathered the map together and stood. "Pack light for a maximumof four days; if we're tailing someone we won't be able to hunt or set up tents." Gripping Naruto's and Kenji's shoulders she marched them to the door. "Well done, brats. Go get some sleep; we're leaving at 700 hours tomorrow."

The next morning dawned bright and early. Much too early for Naruto. He suspected that he hadn't gotten more than an hour of sleep. First it was Kenji's snoring, then the storm that kept him from falling asleep. In the end, fitful dreams full of dead sakura trees with grotesquely reaching branches, faceless women and howling winds had him waking up more exhausted than before.

In contrast, Kenji was nearly bouncing in his seat, inhaling his breakfast and impatiently checking the door of the dining area for Matsuri-sensei and Mai.

Naruto rubbed his itching eyes and picked unenthusiastically at his rice and fish. Now he knew why morning people were commonly disliked.

"Are you eating that?", Kenji's voice suddenly startled him. The mercury-eyed boy's chopsticks inched hungrily towards Naruto's bowl.

Naruto tried to glare at him but he suspected that it was rather unsuccessful with his barely opened eyes.

Instead he shoved the bowl over to Kenji who looked impeccably unaffected. "There's no reason to waste perfectly good food", he shrugged unapologetically around a mouthful of rice.

"Yeah, feel free", Naruto mumbled petulantly, "I'll be waiting outside, if you don't mind."

"Maybe you can try to – you know – wake up?", Kenji suggested.

Naruto didn't deign that worthy of a reply.

Fortunately, the salty and cool morning air did a good job of dispelling Naruto's tiredness and by the time his team emerged he felt capable of starting the day. Pity he had given up his breakfast, though.

Starting northwards along the coastline they made good speed. When Ishinomaki disappeared behind the hills and rocky cliffs they slowed down and took stock of their surroundings.

There was no forest to speak of. Only small trees with gnarled branches, twisted to accommodate the strong winds, stuck out of the thorny shrubbery that lined the edge of the cliff. The bushes thinned out inbound but it was hard to navigate them where they stood the densest. A good distance to the west they could vaguely make out the tree line of Hi no Kuni'sdensly forested lands.

"Well, the bandits aren't likely to set up their camp in an area like this", Mai stated, frowning.

"No, that's true", Matsuri squatted down and brought out the map again. "Let's approach this from two sides." She marked a point on the map. "This is where we are. The suspected area starts two mile from here but as Mai said it's unlikely that the bandits are in an open area like this. Meaning, we are comparatively save from detection here. We'll make this our rendezvous point."

She took a Kunai out of the holder at her thigh and marked an inconspicuous x on the base of the tree they were kneeling next to.

"You three will cover a two-mile stretch inbound from here on out. Look for dense tree growth, bays, rock formations or anything that would make an easily defended and concealed hideout."

She regarded them critically for a moment. "And cover your hair, please, boys. Blond and white are not very stealthy."

"It's silver, lady", Naruto could hear Kenji grumbling quietly, "Silver, I tell you!" Mai suppressed a small giggle.

"I will descend to sea level and scout the area from the water. It's hard to use water walking on the open ocean and apart from Naruto none of you have the necessary control and capacity yet. Anyway, it would leave you without cover."

"And how will you find cover?", Mai asked curiously.

The Jounin grinned slightly. "I can swim and dive really well, Mai", she explained, amusement dripping from her voice. Naruto snorted. Really well? That was one way to say it, sure…

Matsuri laughed at her two Genin's puzzled expression. "Don't worry, I suppose you'll understand sooner or later."

"Now shoo! We'll meet up at 1400. If you're in deep trouble, use a flare."

Disregarding their sensei - who thought it prudent to take a dive straight over the cliff edge into the ocean - they set out in a roughly triangular formation; Naruto and Mai took point while Kenji, who was the one with the flares was half a mile behind them and a bit closer to the sea.

The further north they got the rockier and more uneven the terrain became. Groves of trees and farns flourished – sheltered from the harsh winds – in-between large boulders. A few times Kenji signaled them that the cliff edge was broken by steep slopes that allowed for possible water access.

Shortly before midday, Mai who was walking a few dozen meters off to Naruto's left held her hand up in the universal sign of 'stop'.

A slight dip in the lichen covered stone was the only indication of the shallow but rather narrow trench in front of them, running towards the ocean. Where it hit the cliff, its edge was mellowed out and slightly steaming water could be seen running over the slope and into sea. The thick bushes on either side of the trench made it rather hard to spot it from the position of the three ninja; Mai was standing at its very edge.

Gesturing Kenji to catch up, Naruto joined Mai. Together they crept forward to check out the narrow canyon. Barely 15 meters below them ran a small stream of probably hot water. With their heads directly over the trench Naruto and Mai could feel warm damp air wafting upwards and dispersing in the densely packed bushes.

"This looks like a suspiciously perfect setup for a hideout", Naruto murmured to the girl.

"Mhm. Warm water, low cliff face and an inbound escape route that's virtually invisible", Mai summarized. "I guess the villagers don't come here often during winter if at all. It's too far out."

With Kenji there, they congregated below the thick greenery.

"Okay, I guess this is what we were looking for", the Genin started with a serious look on his face, "I think I saw something like a rope ladder beneath where the water goes down over the cliff."

"So, what are we going to do now? We still have more than an hour until we have to turn back. Do we go left or should we check for the camp directly?"

Good question, Naruto conceded. They could follow the canyon inland; assuming it was an access path to the camp it would definitely be guarded at its entry point at the very least. On the other hand, if the camp was off the cliff, they'd be hard pressed to locate it directly without being seen.

"We need to make sure first, that we're on the right track here", Naruto finally spoke out.

"So we're going to check for the hideout", Kenji nodded and pointed to their right. "There was no sentry as far as I could see but I noticed something else. There were some weird light reflections from one of those trees over there." He paused a second and gave Naruto a questioning look.

"Mirrors, you think?", the Chuunin raised an eyebrow. "That's… actually not a bad idea", he admitted a bit baffled.

A grin stole unexpectedly on Mai's face. "You mean they aren't your usual type of more-brawn-than-brain bandits?"

Naruto blinked in confusion when Kenji started to snicker lowly.

"I… don't get it, guys", he shook his head. What was so funny about intelligent criminals? They tended to be the worst of them all!

"Erm… never mind. Just this thing about academy lessons and stereotypes, you know?", Mai explained unhelpfully.

"Anyway", he tried to get them back on track, "With a false surrounding technique I'll be able to mislead them enough to slip by and check their position and maybe the range of the mirrors. If I'm not back in 15 minutes go back to the rendezvous point and wait for Matsuri-sensei, okay?"

The three on them backed up a few dozen meters from the edge and Naruto set out towards the cliff.

While he couldn't replicate the terrain itself in a genjutsu – doing that would require being able to actually _see_ that terrain – he could just as well cast the meisaigakure no jutsu on himself. If he supplemented that with a false surrounding technique that only covered his immediate area, he would be virtually invisible despite the obvious disadvantage of moving under the meisaigakure*.

As soon as he reached the edge of the trench close to the mirror tree Kenji had discovered, he could hear low voices. Daring a careful glimpse into the canyon it was hard to miss the obvious signs of humans passing; even if one disregarded the fact that two of them were sitting on the ground, each man observing one of the mirrors on either side of the canyon. The ladder that Kenji had mentioned was fastened to a doubly secured wooden post and descended along the spray of the meager waterfall. As Naruto watched, a head appeared over the edge. "There's your replacement coming up in 20 minutes", was all the man grunted before he went back down again.

They had found the bandits' hideout.

* * *

* MeisaiGakure no Jutsu (A-rank, supplementary) works only if the user stays completely still; otherwise the person will be seen distorted (like a body of water). It's easy to cast but hard to hold on to (and useless if one can't ) and required above average chakra control. Despite its rank it was one of the first supplementary techniques Matsuri had Naruto learn in an effort to keep her young Genin save when he was forced to tag along on the harder missions.

* * *

**(TBC)**

Sorry to end it so abruptly but there was no better point further on. Again, the next chapter is mostly written. Don't expect it before end of october, though. I'm on holidays starting next sunday...^^

I would very much appreciate REVIEWS. I'm reasonable; I'd like to reach 65 if possible(That's not too much to ask, is it?) I'd like to know what you think!

Next chapter: Where are the captives? Something sinister is discovered... Stay tuned!

cheers, ginoeh


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